From The Archives: Chesterfield 4-4 Grimsby Town
10.09.26, 20:58 Updated 10.09.26, 21:07 4 Minute Read
Matthew Rhodes
March 27th, 2004. 'Yeah' by Usher was number one in the UK singles chart, MSN Messenger was in its heyday and I was 16 years old. At this age, when not studying for my GCSEs, I would have been playing a serious amount of Championship Manager 01/02 (still the greatest computer game of all time) featuring legends such as Maxim Tsigalko, To Madeira and Cherno Samba. But the 2003/04 football season was also the first campaign that I started to attend some Chesterfield matches with mates from school.
At this time, the Spireites were playing in the old Second Division (what is now League One) and embroiled in a relegation dogfight. On this Saturday afternoon in March, Chesterfield were up against Grimsby Town who were also sat at the wrong end of the table. This was an era in which the Spireites still played at dear old Saltergate and had Roy McFarland in charge. My memories are a bit hazy of the actual games I watched during this campaign, but I do distinctly remember the final day (which will be for a feature another time) and the closing stages of when the Spireites hosted the Mariners in a crunch match with around six weeks remaining of the season.
Become a member today.
The Spireite Herald needs its community to support independent, high-quality coverage of Chesterfield. Subscribe to a monthly or annual package today to be a part of something special.
Already have an account? Sign in
Related Topics
Matthew Rhodes Matthew Rhodes is a freelance sports journalist, broadcaster, commentator and author. He was born and raised in Chesterfield and worked as North Derbyshire Radio's senior sports editor from 2021 to 2025. In 2026, his first full-length book was published; 'A Fine Line' covers Chesterfield's astonishing FA Cup run during the 1996/97 season.