The Sky Bet League Two club has signed an agreement with LinkedIn to help the town overcome economic challenges, as Grimsby boss Michael Jolley explains
Wednesday 25 September 2019 12:48, UK
Grimsby Town will look to cause a major upset when they visit Chelsea on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup third round, but it has already been a momentous week for the Sky Bet League Two club.
For years, the club's supporters have taken the well-trodden path to Cleethorpes, down Freeman Street and past the Dock Tower, via a nearby chippy selling proper fishcakes and on to the fan-friendly, old fashioned and atmospheric Blundell Park against the backdrop of the Humber Estuary.
Having once boasted the world's biggest fishing fleet, the docks have fallen on hard times. This is a football club that has long been intertwined with the fate of its fabled fishing industry, but a new unique sponsorship is helping the town overcome some tough economic challenges.
Grimsby have launched a new partnership with LinkedIn, with the goal of helping local jobseekers find work and develop their careers. It marks the world's largest professional network's first foray into football sponsorship, as the club's manager Michael Jolley explains.
"This football club plays a central part in the heart of the town's community and brings everyone together on a regular basis," he tells Sky Sports.
"The initiative is all about exploring how community connections can help people access new jobs and careers, so it makes sense for LinkedIn to be involved right where the town's community is already coming together.
"It's great that the sponsorship can deliver further support to residents through a series of activities that will connect people to economic opportunities in the area.
As of February this year, the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in Great Grimsby had fallen by 45 per cent to 3,406 since 2013.
Across the local authority of North East Lincolnshire, the unemployment rate has dropped from 11.5 per cent in 2010 to 6.4 per cent in 2018. The initiative should help see those figures continue the downward trend.
The deal is already having an effect, with match-goers to last Saturday's home league game against Macclesfield making use of the 'LinkedIn Lounge' - a permanent matchday fixture throughout the season, where fans will be able to see current vacancies in the area, along with details on how to apply.
A half-time pie and a pint at Blundell Park will now come accompanied by 'job takeovers' that alert supporters of live vacancies, while matchday programmes will further drum home the initiative.
The ground will also be home to the brand's temporary pop-up pub 'The Linked Inn' - where fans and Grimsby residents alike can score themselves a job with an after-work drink.
Jolley is a man who "believes in the power of following your dreams", which is what led him to changing careers himself from banking into football management.
The 42-year-old worked under Sean Dyche for three years as development coach of Burnley's Under 23s until 2017, when Swedish Premier Division side AFC Eskilstuna came calling with his first managerial role via a now-familiar route.
Jolley continued: "It was a fantastic learning experience working with Sean and he is someone I have a huge amount of respect for. It was a first-class apprenticeship in football management and then an exciting opportunity became available.
"The football agent who contacted me about my first position as a head coach in Sweden, first contacted me through LinkedIn. So I know first hand how LinkedIn can bring people opportunities to work in new and interesting environments."
Back in March 2018, when Jolley first arrived at the club on an undisclosed rolling contract, his remit was to preserve the club's Football League status.
A run of four wins and three draws helped keep the Mariners afloat, and despite the natural disappointment of seeing rivals Lincoln gain promotion last term, a season of consolidation bore further signs of progress.
"It's true that the club was in a challenging position when I arrived," Jolley added. "But I viewed this as an opportunity to at first stabilise, and then build a younger squad on longer contracts that could develop towards more sustainable success over a two or three-year time horizon."
Ten games into this season, and the league table is starting to form. Grimsby sit ninth, two points outside of the play-off places - and the squad is now shaped in Jolley's image.
"Recruitment in any business is critical and none more so than in football management," he said.
"We always follow a consistent process when recruiting new players externally, and although that doesn't guarantee success, we have been pleased with the overall quality of players we have added across three transfer windows.
"We have on occasion looked beyond the obvious markets to find new people and brought players from further afield who we felt fitted our criteria more closely.
"But at Grimsby we also believe strongly in promoting from within, so our academy has a hugely significant role to play.
"We now have 25 per cent of our first-team squad made up from academy players and we have also been able to sell one of our academy players to a Championship club for a significant fee.
"We want to continue with this process of developing our young players both for our own squad and also as assets for the football club."
The last time Grimsby were drawn to face Chelsea in February 1996 during an FA Cup fifth-round tie, then player-manager Brian Laws picked himself at left-back following a two-match ban.
Striker Ivano Bonetti was infamously absent with a fractured cheekbone after Laws had thrown a plate of chicken wings at his face in a remarkable dressing-room bust-up. The Premier League club required a replay to progress but the Bonetti incident ultimately cost Laws his job.
With Grimsby having sold out their away allocation of 5,118 tickets this time around, Jolley is happy to let his players grab the headlines.
"I will be telling them to enjoy the occasion and to make our supporters proud," he said.
"We have incredible supporters who follow our club across the country so we have an obligation to represent them and the values that they hold dear.
"Grimsby and Cleethorpes is full of good people with integrity and a strong work ethic, and we must uphold those values, whoever it is that we play against."
The first Linked Inn pop-up job event took place on Tuesday night at Blundell Park with attendees able to speak to many local companies about work opportunities.
Darain Faraz, head of brand at LinkedIn, told Sky Sports: "It was fantastic. We saw over 80 local jobseekers network with a range of local companies, including Docks Beers, DFDS and Associated British Ports.
"We also had representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and local MP Melanie Onn joined us too - it's great to see how well supported the event has been by the community.
"Feedback from many of the jobseekers was that they didn't realise there was such a broad range of opportunities on LinkedIn so close to home. And some already have interviews lined up, so it really shows what networking and your community can do."
