GARY Lund was back on the goal trail at Blundell Park this week – more than 20 years after his last appearance at the ground.
The former Grimsby Town and England Under-21 star returned for Monday evening's 'Chairman's Challenge'.
And after hitting the back of the net once again on his old stomping ground, the 49-year-old said the occasion brought back some wonderful memories of his three years with his hometown club.
"It was lovely to come back after so many years," said Lund, who now lives in Nottingham.
"I'm from Grimsby, grew up here, went to Havelock School and then played for Town for the first three years of my professional career, which was pretty special.
"It's always lovely coming home and it was extra special for me because I had so many family there to watch.
"I still have family in Grimsby – my mum, my brother and my wife's family are here, so we come back to see them pretty regularly,."
After making his Town debut as a 19-year-old in 1983, Lund went on to make more than 70 appearances for the Mariners, scoring 19 goals.
Spells at Lincoln City, Notts County and Chesterfield followed before he swapped football for life as an estate agent.
"The last time I came to Blundell Park was when I was at Notts County and we played them in Division One in 1992/93. If my memory serves me right, I scored," he recalled.
"I played against Town two or three times at Blundell Park and I had some decent results, which provided mixed emotions!
"It's just such a shame that the club has fallen so far since. They were a bit unlucky last season, though, and hopefully that upward trend can continue.
"It would be fantastic to see Grimsby Town back in the league as soon as possible – it just doesn't seem right to me that they are not in the top four divisions.
"I grew up watching them in the old Division Two, with the likes of Kevin Moore as my heroes. That's the club I came into as a massive Grimsby Town fan.
"The club warrants being in a higher division, especially in terms of the support. Grimsby get very high crowds for the Conference and I'm sure if they got promoted the crowds would go up and up."
With Saturday's FA Cup Second Round clash with Northampton Town coming into sharp focus, Lund feels a reminder of the glory days could be on the horizon.
He added: "I've got some fabulous memories from my three years in the first-team. We had some great times, great matches and played some big teams.
"We went head-to-head with the likes of Manchester City, Leeds United, Chelsea. That's where, in my mind, Grimsby Town belongs – playing clubs like that.
"It would be nice to see those kinds of clubs back at Blundell Park one day.
"This year's FA Cup could provide that opportunity sooner than expected.
"If the draw sends a Premier League team here, that would help everyone relive the old days and get a feel for what it was like in the past, and how it could be again.
"The money and revenue from that would only help their prospects of getting back in the league as well."
