# 2023–24 Grimsby Town F.C. season

The 2023–24 season is the 146th season in the history of Grimsby Town and their second consecutive season in League Two. The club are participating in League Two, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the 2023–24 EFL Trophy.

## Current squad

    As of 1 March 2024
| No. | Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | Contract end |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | Harvey Cartwright | GK | Grimsby | (2002-05-09) 9 May 2002 (age 22) | Hull City | 4 July 2023 | Loan | 31 May 2024 |
| 12 | Jake Eastwood | GK | Rotherham | (1996-10-03) 3 October 1996 (age 28) | Sheffield United | 4 July 2023 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2025 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | Liam Smith | RB | Dalgety Bay | (1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 (age 28) | Cheltenham Town | 1 February 2024 | Loan | 30 June 2024 |
| 3 | Anthony Glennon | LB | Bootle | (1999-11-26) 26 November 1999 (age 25) | Burnley | 1 July 2022 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 5 | Harvey Rodgers | CB | Selby | (1996-10-20) 20 October 1996 (age 28) | Accrington Stanley | 1 July 2023 | Free | 30 June 2026 |
| 24 | Doug Tharme | CB | Birkenhead | (1999-08-17) 17 August 1999 (age 25) | Blackpool | 12 January 2024 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2025 |
| 28 | Toby Mullarkey | CB | Warrington | (1995-11-04) 4 November 1995 (age 29) | Rochdale | 14 June 2023 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2025 |
| 31 | Niall Maher | CB | Manchester | (1995-07-31) 31 July 1995 (age 29) | FC Halifax Town | 1 July 2022 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 33 | Denver Hume | LB | Ashington | (1998-08-11) 11 August 1998 (age 26) | Portsmouth | 1 February 2024 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 38 | Jamie Bramwell | CB | Newcastle upon Tyne | (2004-01-25) 25 January 2004 (age 20) | Newcastle United | 1 July 2021 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 4 | Kieran Green | AM | Stockton-on-Tees | (1997-06-30) 30 June 1997 (age 27) | FC Halifax Town | 15 July 2022 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2024 |
| 6 | Curtis Thompson | CM | Nottingham | (1993-09-02) 2 September 1993 (age 31) | Cheltenham Town | 1 February 2024 | Free | 30 June 2025 |
| 7 | Abo Eisa | LW | Khartoum | (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 28) | Bradford City | 1 July 2023 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 8 | Gavan Holohan | AM | Kilkenny | (1991-12-15) 15 December 1991 (age 32) | Hartlepool United | 22 March 2022 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 10 | Charles Vernam | LW | Lincoln | (1996-10-08) 8 October 1996 (age 28) | Lincoln City | 20 June 2023 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2026 |
| 15 | Harry Clifton | CM | Grimsby | (1998-06-12) 12 June 1998 (age 26) | Academy | 1 July 2015 | Trainee | 30 June 2024 |
| 16 | Callum Ainley | CM | Swindon | (1997-11-02) 2 November 1997 (age 27) | Crewe Alexandra | 9 September 2023 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 18 | Harry Wood | CM | Leeds | (2002-08-02) 2 August 2002 (age 22) | Hull City | 12 January 2024 | Loan | 31 May 2024 |
| 19 | Jamie Andrews | CM | Solihull | (2002-09-19) 19 September 2002 (age 22) | West Bromwich Albion | 28 August 2023 | Loan | 31 May 2024 |
| 30 | Evan Khouri | CM | London | (2003-01-21) 21 January 2003 (age 21) | West Ham United | 7 July 2019 | Free | 30 June 2026 |
| 37 | Harvey Tomlinson | RW | Grimsby | (2004-05-17) 17 May 2004 (age 20) | Academy | 1 July 2023 | Trainee | 30 June 2024 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 9 | Rekeil Pyke | CF | Leeds | (1997-09-01) 1 September 1997 (age 27) | Shrewsbury Town | 1 July 2023 | Free | 30 June 2025 |
| 14 | Arthur Gnahoua | CF | Grenoble | (1992-09-18) 18 September 1992 (age 32) | Morecambe | 5 August 2023 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 20 | Justin Obikwu | CF | Brent | (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 (age 20) | Coventry City | 12 January 2024 | Loan | 31 May 2024 |
| 25 | Donovan Wilson | CF | Yate | (1997-03-14) 14 March 1997 (age 27) | Sutton United | 1 July 2023 | Free | 30 June 2025 |
| 32 | Danny Rose | CF | Barnsley | (1993-12-10) 10 December 1993 (age 30) | Stevenage | 14 June 2023 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2025 |
| 35 | Cameron Gardner | CF | Newcastle-Upon-Tyne | (2005-09-22) 22 September 2005 (age 19) | Academy | 22 September 2023 | Trainee | 30 June 2026 |
| 39 | Edwin Essel | CF | Grimsby | (2004-08-18) 18 August 2004 (age 20) | Academy | 1 July 2023 | Trainee | 30 June 2024 |
| Out on Loan ||||||||||
| - | Danny Amos | LB | Sheffield | (1999-12-22) 22 December 1999 (age 24) | Port Vale | 13 January 2022 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| - | Otis Khan | RM | Ashton-Under-Lyne | (1995-09-22) 22 September 1995 (age 29) | Leyton Orient | 1 July 2022 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2024 |
| - | Alex Hunt | CM | Sheffield | (2000-05-29) 29 May 2000 (age 24) | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 September 2022 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2025 |
| - | Aaron Braithwaite | CM | Grimsby | (2003-10-13) 13 October 2003 (age 21) | Academy | 1 July 2023 | Trainee | 30 June 2024 |
| Players departed midseason ||||||||||
| 2 | Michee Efete | RB | London | (1997-03-01) 1 March 1997 (age 27) | Wealdstone | 1 July 2021 | Free | 30 June 2024 |
| 6 | Luke Waterfall | CB | Sheffield | (1990-07-30) 30 July 1990 (age 34) | Shrewsbury Town | 15 August 2019 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2024 |
| 42 | Kamil Conteh | CM | London | (2002-12-26) 26 December 2002 (age 21) | Middlesbrough | 3 July 2023 | Undisclosed | 30 June 2026 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee |
| 14 June 2023 | CB | Toby Mullarkey | Rochdale | Undisclosed |
| 14 June 2023 | CF | Danny Rose | Stevenage | Undisclosed |
| 20 June 2023 | LW | Charles Vernam | Lincoln City | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2023 | LW | Abo Eisa | Bradford City | Free Transfer |
| 1 July 2023 | CF | Rekeil Pyke | Shrewsbury Town | Free Transfer |
| 1 July 2023 | CB | Harvey Rodgers | Accrington Stanley | Free Transfer |
| 1 July 2023 | CF | Donovan Wilson | Sutton United | Free Transfer |
| 3 July 2023 | CM | Kamil Conteh | Middlesbrough | Undisclosed |
| 4 July 2023 | GK | Jake Eastwood | Sheffield United | Undisclosed |
| 5 August 2023 | LW | Arthur Gnahoua | Morecambe | Free Transfer |
| 9 September 2023 | CM | Callum Ainley | Free agent | — |
| 12 January 2024 | CB | Doug Tharme | Blackpool | Undisclosed |
| 1 February 2024 | LB | Denver Hume | Portsmouth | Free Transfer |
| 1 February 2024 | CM | Curtis Thompson | Cheltenham Town | Free Transfer |

### Out

| Date | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee |
| 29 June 2023 | CF | Danilo Orsi | Crawley Town | Undisclosed |
| 30 June 2023 | CM | Louis Boyd | Cleethorpes Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | GK | Ollie Battersby | Guiseley | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | GK | Max Crocombe | Burton Albion | Rejected Contract |
| 30 June 2023 | RB | Jordan Cropper | Barnet | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | GK | Dec Dennis | Cleethorpes Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | RB | Josh Emmanuel | Carlisle United | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | LB | Owen Gallacher | Spennymoor Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | CB | Jaz Goundry | Alfreton Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | RB | Alex Markham | Bridlington Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | DM | Bryn Morris | Newport County | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | CB | Shaun Pearson | Retired | Retired |
| 30 June 2023 | RW | Sean Scannell | Hornchurch | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | CF | Ryan Taylor | Alfreton Town | Released |
| 30 June 2023 | LB | Tom Zerboni | Grantham Town | Released |
| 25 January 2024 | CB | Luke Waterfall | Hartlepool United | Free Transfer |
| 26 January 2024 | CM | Kamil Conteh | Bristol Rovers | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2024 | RB | Michee Efete | Ross County | Mutual Consent |

### Loaned in

| Date | Pos | Player | Loaned from | Date until |
| 4 July 2023 | GK | Harvey Cartwright | Hull City | End of Season |
| 28 August 2023 | MF | Jamie Andrews | West Bromwich Albion | End of Season |
| 12 January 2024 | CF | Justin Obikwu | Coventry City | End of Season |
| 12 January 2024 | CM | Harry Wood | Hull City | End of Season |
| 1 February 2024 | RB | Liam Smith | Cheltenham Town | End of Season |

### Loaned out

| Date | Pos | Player | Loaned to | Until |
| 18 August 2023 | CF | Edwin Essel | Guiseley | 15 September 2023 |
| 19 August 2023 | CM | Aaron Braithwaite | Stafford Rangers | 24 November 2023 |
| 25 August 2023 | RW | Harvey Tomlinson | Grimsby Borough | 1 January 2024 |
| 26 September 2023 | CF | Edwin Essel | Grimsby Borough | 2 January 2024 |
| 16 December 2023 | CB | Jamie Bramwell | Whitby Town | 13 January 2024 |
| 25 January 2024 | RM | Otis Khan | Hartlepool United | 30 June 2024 |
| 31 January 2024 | CM | Evan Khouri | Spennymoor Town | 29 February 2024 |
| 6 February 2024 | LB | Danny Amos | York City | End of Season |
| 22 February 2024 | CM | Alex Hunt | York City | End of Season |
| 1 March 2024 | CM | Aaron Braithwaite | Whitby Town | 1 April 2024 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

On 31 May, Grimsby Town announced their pre-season schedule, with friendlies against Grimsby Borough, Cleethorpes Town, Hull City, Lincoln City, Boston United and Fleetwood Town along with a training camp in Spain confirmed. Grimsby confirmed they would play both Port Vale and UAE Pro League side Al-Ain FC at the Real Club de Golf Campoamor Resort in Alicante.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures
* ^ Game incorporated four-thirty minute quarters as opposed to using the traditional clock.

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| League Two | Matchday 1 | | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 020.00 |
| FA Cup | First round | Second round | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 033.33 |
| EFL Cup | First round | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| EFL Trophy | Group stage | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | 37 | 7 | 13 | 17 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 018.92 |
Last updated: 10 February 2024 Source: Soccerway

### League Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 18 | Newport County | 46 | 16 | 7 | 23 | 62 | 76 | −14 | 55 | |
| 19 | Swindon Town | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 77 | 83 | −6 | 54 | |
| 20 | Salford City | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 66 | 82 | −16 | 51 | |
| 21 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 57 | 74 | −17 | 49 | |
| 22 | Colchester United | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 59 | 80 | −21 | 45 | |
| 23 | Sutton United (R) | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 59 | 84 | −25 | 42 | Relegated to National League |
| 24 | Forest Green Rovers (R) | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 44 | 78 | −34 | 42 | Relegated to National League |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 27 April 2024. Source: Soccerway

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 27$^1$ | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 29$^2$ | 44 | 33$^3$ | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | L | W | D | D | W | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | D | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | L | D | L | L | D | W | D | D | W | D | L | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | L |
| Position | 13 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
* $^1$ Matchday 27 (vs AFC Wimbledon) was postponed due to Wimbledon's FA Cup involvement.
* $^2$ Matchday 29 (vs Harrogate Town) was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
* $^3$ Matchday 33 (vs Colchester United) was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

#### Matches

On 22 June, the EFL League Two fixtures were released.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### FA Cup

Town were drawn away to Ebbsfleet United or Slough Town in the first round.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### EFL Cup

Grimsby were drawn away to Mansfield Town in the first round.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### EFL Trophy

In the group stage, Grimsby Town were drawn into Northern Group F alongside Barnsley, Bradford City and Manchester City U21.
| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | L2 | Bradford City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 9 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L1 | Barnsley | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | Manchester City U21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |
| 4 | L2 | Grimsby Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | |
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures