Gregor Robertson column: “When Craig Disley spoke, we listened”

(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)
By Gregor Robertson – @GregorRoberts0n
STANDING on the pitch at Braintree Town after the National League play-off semi-final second leg in 2016, mobbed by jubilant fans; Clem, a microphone and a BT Sport cameraman waiting for his reaction, Craig Disley's eyes began to pool with tears. His lip trembled. Words wouldn't come out. None were needed to show what it meant to Grimsby's captain to be returning to Wembley.
Dis had endured play-off heartache in the previous two seasons, of course. The wound of defeat to Bristol Rovers on penalties at Wembley the year before could only be healed by promotion. “I don't know what happened, or where that came from,”
Disley says of that emotional late fightback at Braintree. “I think it was just pure relief. Once we'd won the semi-final, I thought that was it. Not in an over confident way, but there was no way we were going to lose again.”
He was right. When, two weeks later, Nathan Arnold rounded the goalkeeper in injury-time at Wembley to make the score 3-1 against Forest Green Rovers, finally, Grimsby's return to the Football League was sealed. “What an unbelievable feeling that was,” Disley says. “Everyone dreams of lifting a trophy at Wembley and I've had the chance to do it. That moment will live with me forever.”
So too will the small tattoo of three fish on his wrist – a promise kept after securing promotion. It isn't hard to see why Dis is held in such high esteem at Blundell Park. When Russell Slade delivered the news, in May, that his time at the club was up, his disappointment was tempered a little by the offer of a benefit game to show their appreciation for all his efforts. So tonight (Tuesday 31 October) a Grimsby Town Select XI will take on Disley's All Stars'. “It's been a really good response,” he says.
Like many of his former team mates I'll be dusting off my boots for a run-out. It's hard to think of a player more deserving of recognition. Of all the captains I played with during my career, few were as influential as Dis. Captains can lead in many ways and Dis wasn't a shouter or a bawler.

When he spoke, we listened. But more than anything he led by example with his performances. In the biggest games, he grew in stature, ran further, saw more of the ball. And he scored more vital goals than any other player.
Looking back on his 259 appearances and 38 goals in six seasons, it's the bond that grew between the players and supporters during the club's final two years in the National League that sticks out, he says.
Supporters travelled in huge numbers to back us every week. Wore “Wigs at Woking,” dressed like “Jesters at Chester,” and perhaps most memorably, took hundreds of inflatables to Barnet, where Disley's injury-time winner sparked scenes that made headlines.
“All those days out, the fans were unbelievable – they were crazy, crazy days,” he says. “The bond between players and fans really returned, and being captain, there was a little bit of a special connection – they took to me, and I took to them. I think for me it was just a case of giving all you could in every game.”
Since joining Alfreton Town, of National League North, during the summer, the 36-year-old has found the transition to part-time football quite testing. “Now football isn't people's be-all and end-all, they have other jobs, and football's something they do on the side,” he says. “It's hard when you go from football being your life for 20 years or so, to it being important, a big thing, but not necessarily the main focus. But I'm getting my head around it and I'm just going to enjoy football for as long as I can.”
Disley always appeared ideally suited to a move into coaching and management one day. But until recently, he says, the idea held little appeal. However, going part-time has given him new perspective. He has been working with Grimsby Town's U11s as he completes his FA Level 2 coaching qualification, and plans to enrol on the UEFA B-licence course this summer. “I'm looking forward to getting out there and getting some experience, ” he says.
A return to Blundell Park as manager one day, perhaps? “I don't know if management will be for me,” he says, “but I didn't think coaching was. In the future, you never know!”
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper, which is available every Sunday.