Grimsby Town: League Two side can use FA Cup money to 'kick on'
- Published
FA Cup 2023: Highlights - Southampton 1-2 Grimsby Town
Grimsby chairman Jason Stockwood has said the club will put all of the money from their "remarkable" FA Cup run into the playing budget for next season.
The League Two side stunned Premier League strugglers Southampton to go through to the quarter-finals.
They will now face fellow top-flight side Brighton away in the last eight.
"Let's not kid ourselves, financially it's going to really help put a bit of wind in our sales," he told BBC Radio Humberside., external
"It's about £250,000 for getting through and then there'll be more from the next round. We've committed to the fans that every penny we make from this run will go into the playing budget for next season.
"So not only is it a brilliant experience but you can see what it does for clubs like Lincoln if you use this kind of money wisely. We can look to kick on next year."
The Imps reached the last eight of the competition while in the National League in 2017 and went on to win two promotions in three seasons.
Grimsby were promoted back to the EFL last season and are 16th in the fourth tier, although they do have as many as four games in hand on the teams above them.
The win at the Saints, courtesy of two Gavan Holohan penalties, saw them into the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 1938-39.
This was the first time the Mariners have played a game with video assistant referees (VAR) and Stockwood joked he had initially been reluctant to pay for it.
"We had a note from the Football Association yesterday saying we needed to pay £10,000 for the VAR. I said if we're going to do that then I'd rather we put it in an envelope and give it to the referee!" he said.
"I said to the lads from Southampton afterwards I don't know how they live with it week-in, week-out but when it goes your way… absolutely amazing."
Their unexpected progress in the Cup means they now face a tight schedule of at least 16 games between now and Monday, 8 May, starting with a trip to promotion-chasing Carlisle on Saturday.
Despite a potentially tricky end to the campaign Stockwood, who took over at Blundell Park in May 2021, said the team were ready to go again.
"I'd play Timbuktu on Monday in the next round if we had to. We're just so delighted to be in the hat," he said.
"Whatever happens it will be brilliant."