Harry Clifton was following Grimsby Town even before he knew it. ‘My mum was heavily pregnant with me but it still didn’t stop her going to Wembley!’ laughs the Mariners midfielder about his mother Julie attending the Football League Trophy final in April 1998. ‘Apparently I was kicking non-stop throughout the game.’
Clifton was born in Grimsby two months after that Wembley win and he would soon be going to games as a fan himself. One of the first he remembers is in the League Cup against Newcastle in 2005, when Alan Shearer scored the only goal, which he watched with his grandad Billy and brother Jack.