Grimsby Town have a new Head Coach

The news was revealed today at Blundell Park

Author: Julie CastonPublished 27th Nov 2023

Grimsby Town have announced David Artell will be their new Head Coach.

It comes almost a month after it was announced then manager Paul Hurst had left his role at Blundell Park.

Artell has signed a contract until the end of the 2025/26 season.

The Mariners have also confirmed that Shaun Pearson will become Assistant Head Coach after a four-match unbeaten run as Interim Co-Head Coach alongside Ben Davies.

42-year-old Artell has had a playing career spanning almost 500 matches, the majority in the Football League with clubs including Morecambe, Crewe Alexandra and Mansfield Town.

He also made seven international appearances for Gibraltar and, after retiring as a player, went into management with Crewe in January 2017 after impressing their board with his work in the Academy.

On taking on the role of Head Coach at the Mariners, Artell said: “It’s an exciting time to be part of this football club:

“I’ve been thoroughly impressed by what Andrew and Jason have said and the plans that they have got going forwards and I think there’s a lot of hard work ahead, both on and off the pitch, but it’s a challenge that I’m excited about and that I can certainly get on board with.

“I think it’s been well documented now that I’ve turned down a few jobs in League Two, I turned down one last week, and I turned down Assistant Coach at Standard Liege in Belgium before that.

“The key thing is that there’s a plan. Jason and Andrew have been absolutely explicit in the detail of where they want this club to go and I went ‘that’ll do.’

“Quite a lot of other clubs think that I’m the plan and I understand that but, at the same time, it’s not just that. I’ve been mightily impressed by Jason and Andrew and what they have said.”

On appointing Artell as our new Head Coach, Chair Jason Stockwood said:

“What really stood out to us when we looked at David’s record is the impact his coaching had on the performance and quality of football played by his teams.

“We’ve spoken before about playing attractive football in the ‘Grimsby way,’ and we believe that we have secured a Head Coach who can work to produce that for our fans.

“David’s teams play attacking, possession-based football, and work hard when out of possession, and we’re confident that he will be able to bring the same approach to the Mariners.

“He also has a strong track record in supporting young players and has worked closely with Academy players during his time at Crewe to help them make an impact in their first team.

“We’re really proud of our Academy; they are having a great season, and we’re eager to see David help bring some of those players into our First Team in the coming years.

“Finally, it was rare among all the applicants we had to find someone with an academic track record like David’s and a genuine curiosity to develop and learn more about not just the game but the world as well.

“As a board, we’re delighted to have secured him until the summer of 2026, and I’d like to encourage all of our supporters to offer him their full support.”

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