2001–02 Grimsby Town F.C. season
During the 2001–02 English football season, Grimsby Town competed in the Football League First Division. Season summary. During the opening weeks of the 2001–02 season, Grimsby briefly led the First Division, sparking hopes that Lawrence could repeat the promotion success he achieved at Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough with a much smaller club. One major highlight in the season was when Grimsby picked up a shock 2–1 win over Liverpool in extra time at Anfield in the League Cup thanks to a wonder strike from Phil Jevons in the last minute. However, after a 5–0 heavy  loss to Crystal Palace, ambitious promotion hopes were quickly extinguished as Grimsby's form hit a major decline with only one win in their next 18 league games which saw Grimsby sit 23rd in the table and Lawrence was sacked as a result and Paul Groves was named player-manager. Groves brought in Graham Rodger as his assistant and made successful loan signings which included Andy Todd and Martin Pringle both from Charlton and Grimsby's results steadily improved as Groves steered them to safety. Results. "Grimsby Town's score comes first"