Remember When?...A Serie A Superstar Signed For Grimsby

Welcome back to Football Reloaded. If it happened between January 1st 1990 and December 31st 2010 in the world of football then there's a good chance we'll cover it. 

As I'm feeling particularly generous this week I'm giving you an extra slice of football nostalgia and throwing back to the 1995-96 season when a touch of Italian flair landed in the sleepy seaside town of Cleethorpes. 

When you remember Football Italia on Channel 4, you can probably be forgiven if the name Ivano Bonetti isn't the first that springs to mind ahead of the likes of Baggio, Baresi, Signori and Vialli but don't let that cloud your judgement. The left-sided midfielder made 18 appearances for Juventus to help The Old Lady win the Serie A title in 1986 before repeating the feat with Sampdoria in 1991 as well as playing in the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley with the Genoa based club. 

Traditionally a lower league outfit, Grimsby Town were enjoying possibly their best spell since their 1930s top division heyday having gone from the old Division Four to the old Second Division via back to back promotions in 1990 and 1991 before English football's restructuring in 1992 saw The Mariners one division below the top flight. Parallel to this was the exciting, swashbuckling brand of passing football played under the tutelage of Messiah-like manager Alan Buckley. After Buckley had moved on to West Brom, the keys to the kingdom were given to former Nottingham Forest defender Brian Laws. 

Legend has it that our story begins in Birmingham at Villa Park and a chance meeting between the Grimsby manager and Bonetti alongside his representative while Laws was casting his eye over a Villa reserve team game. A combination of Bonetti's desire to play in England and Laws being slightly economical with the truth regarding Grimsby's location led to one of the most surprising transfer deals in Football League history. 

The move brought a mass blaze of publicity and media interest to Grimsby, fans flocked to Blundell Park in order to catch a glimpse of the new exotic superstar and for a time Laws' side became bona fide promotion contenders, scaling the dizzy heights of second in Division One. The crowning moment came when Bonetti scored a fine winning goal in a 1-0 grudge victory over Buckley's West Brom side. The love affair was in full swing. 

The love between Bonetti and Grimsby Town was tested when the bombshell was dropped that the Italian midfielder's contract was owned by an American sports management company (think of a primitive version of the Tevez and Mascherano fiasco of 2006) thus preventing the Grimsby board from sorting the transfer themselves (that and the fact that the £100,000 release fee was demanding money the club were unlikely to have). Undeterred, the Mariners faithful mobilised and raised £50,000 in order to keep the Italian at the club (this shouldn't come as a surprise, in 2015 Town supporters clubbed together and raised £110,000 in an ultimately successful bid to return to the Football League from the Conference) with Bonetti himself stumping up the other half. 

While the love affair continued off the field, on it things were taking a bit of a turn. Grimsby's form had dipped and they soon found themselves sliding out of the automatic promotion and play-off spots towards the lower reaches of the Division One table. The nadir was reached in February 1996 during a clash with Luton Town at Kenilworth Road with incredibly damaging consequences. 

For context, a mere number of weeks before, The Hatters had received an almighty walloping at Blundell Park in the FA Cup with Bonetti in imperious goalscoring and creating form (scoring one and setting two up) in a 7-1 shellacking. An hour into the league meeting in Luton and Town seemed set for a relatively routine win as they were 2-1 up. Two late Luton goals later and Grimsby were beaten. 

Things took an even more absurd turn after the game although accounts of what actually took place differ depending on who is being asked. The commonly accepted version of events revolves around a confrontation between Laws and his Italian midfielder which ended with a plate of a chicken based product launched across the dressing room, severely wounding the face (and no doubt ego) of Bonetti. 

A media storm surrounded Blundell Park and the two men were cajoled into a public 'kiss and make up' photo call prior to Town pulling off a shock 3-0 FA Cup win over Premier League outfit West Ham United at Blundell Park but it was clear that Bonetti's holiday romance on England's East Coast was coming to a rather abrupt end. 

Bonetti's time at Blundell Park came to an end at the conclusion of the 1995-96 season, Grimsby's promotion charge was nothing more than a distant memory as they finished 17th in Division One. The Italian midfielder swapped the Humber Estuary for the Wirral as he left to join Tranmere Rovers at the campaign's culmination. By the end of 1996 Laws was relieved of his duties as The Mariners began to sink towards Division Two. 

If you ever find yourself at Blundell Park, mention the name Ivano Bonetti and just watch as grown men go all misty eyed in front of you. 

Thanks for reading this piece, we'll be back next week with another slice of 90s and 00s football nostalgia. 

Until then, take care. 

Before we go, remember to check out our mates at Six Yards Out for retro kit themed items such as mugs, phone cases, coasters and cushions. Go over to sixyardsout.com or follow @Six_Yards_Out on Twitter to browse their extensive range.