John McDermott enjoyed highs and lows at Blundell Park during a 22-year-career with Grimsby Town. The full back was recognised by the PFA at its recent Awards night when the 40-yar-old picked up the prestigious Merit Award. Playing over 750 games for the Mariners means that the man from the north-east has a few tales to tell and he shared them exclusively with givemefootball’s Ian Clarkson
WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR TIME AT GRIMSBY TOWN?
The highlight was promotion and winning the Auto Windscreens Shield in the space of three weeks back in 1998. (Grimsby beat Bournemouth in the Auto Windscreens Shield before defeating Northampton in the League One play-off final) Everyone’s dream is to play at Wembley and I played there and won twice in a short space of time. You get there and you don’t want to lose. I remember going away from the ground on the bus thinking that if it all stopped there then that would be okay. That would be what I set out to achieve and since then I achieved a lot more and had the ups and downs but it has been a fantastic rollercoaster.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT SO MANY MANAGERS KEPT YOU IN THE TEAM AT GRIMSBY OVER SUCH A LONG PERIOD OF TIME?
I gave effort, desire and had a passion for the game. If you give that then the fans accept that. Sometimes you have bad games – not many mind! They just want effort from a player and they love the loyalty aspect. I didn’t mean to go out and set records but you suddenly get the appearance record and then you get your testimonial out of the way and then you are half way to another one. Then you think can you go a bit further and try and get the club back in the Championship and you are setting yourself targets all the time. Luckily I achieved most of them.
WHEN WERE YOU AWARE THAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO BREAK THE ALL-TIME APPEARANCE RECORD AT GRIMSBY?
I was only aware of breaking the appearance record three days before I actually set it. A guy said you are coming up to 450 games and the bloke who used to hold the record is going to give you the award on the day. Then I wanted to get 500 and it crept up and I played my 700th game in the Carling Cup against Tottenham and we beat them, which was a nice little moment.
WHO WAS THE BEST MANAGER YOU PLAYED UNDER AT BLUNDELL PARK?
Alan Buckley was the main guy and he was the main reason I stayed when they were relegated as he came back again and I knew what he could do. Luckily enough he always delivered and that was the reason I turned down clubs. He was disciplined and he played football land he always agreed that the ball was on the floor and not in the air. We always played to feet and passed it and if anyone sussed us out he just told us to move the ball and ourselves quicker. He always believed in our system and never changed it.
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF SOMEONE BROKE YOUR RECORD?
I would love to see someone break my record but it would have to be a young lad and nowadays if you get a young lad has played over 200 games usually they get on and get a move. However, if someone does that then it is great news as it means a player has achieved something and the club has achieved something because they have done well to keep hold of him.
WHO WERE THE BEST PLAYERS YOU PLAYED WITH DURING YOUR LONG CAREER?
The best wingers I played alongside were Kevin Donovan and Gary Childs. The best front man was Clive Mendonca and he was fantastic. He went to Charlton and took them up to the Premier League virtually on his own with all the goals he scored. We have had some great players all over the park that weren’t household names but stayed at Blundell Park for years and formed a good team. People stayed there for years as they moved over and lived in the area. Nowadays, especially with the smaller clubs, they only give you one-year contracts and no-one is going to move to the area on a one-year deal.
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