Ulf Hansson was at Blundell Park yesterday for his 50th game of watching the Mariners., arriving a day early to attend the Race Night on friday in aid of former player Clive Wigginton.
Born in 1958, retired from the Steel Industry in 2019, living in a small town in the middle of Sweden called Hedemora, with a population of around 15 thousand, and which he was Mayor of between 2009-2018, you could ask yourself why the Mariners?
“I have a good explanation explained Ulf, around 1973 I played amateur football in Sweden, the team was called ‘Grim’ and it had a brewery next to the football pitch, they even brew a beer called Grim!”
“I first watched Town on the tv in 1977 v Crystal Palace, followed their results ever since, my first game I went to was at Notts County in 2005″ ” [Goals by Andy Parkinson and Jason Crowe earned Town a 2-2 draw that day]
On the weekend of the 16th March, Ulf and 10 of his friends are in London for the weekend, they all plan to watch a football game on the Saturday in the Capital, well all except Ulf who will be making the journey east on his own to watch the Mariners at Gillingham!
When asked about his favourite game he’d seen, he said “I cannot choose between two, last year’s F.A. Cup win at Southampton, and the Wembley play-off final win against Forest Green Rovers, being there was special and both will always live in my memory”, he said with a smile.
Ulf was talking to Kev Donovan.
If you are an overseas Mariner and have a story to tell and are due to visit Blundell Park, please get in touch with us at enquiries@marinerstrust.co.uk and we will evdeavour to feature you on our website.
Pictures below shows Ulf flanked by former mariners Dave Smith [left] and Clive Wigginton [right], and 40 minutes before the kick off we bumped into the gaffa!
