Hat trickery Eccentric accessory leaves GTFC fans cold

'Speaking as a Grimsby Town fan of 40 years standing, I do feel the club needs all the exposure we can get," said Kathryn Wheatley.

- Mark Brown

"But not that sort of exposure, thank you very much." Wheatley was reacting to images of Boris Johnson entering and leaving the Covid inquiry on Wednesday wearing a big woollen bobble hat labelled GTFC.

"What does GTFC stand for?" asked Nick Robinson on Today on BBC Radio 4. "Grimsby Town Football Club" came a chorus of replies on social media.

It is said locally that the hat is one of two given to Johnson by Lia Nici, Grimsby's Tory MP, who is a fierce supporter of the former prime minister. After he resigned she said Johnson had "done more for Grimsby in generations, if ever".

That, however, is not an opinion universally shared in the town.

Wheatley, leader of the Labour group on North East Lincolnshire council, said Grimsby Town was a 140-year-old club "rooted in the community... and to be associated with that bumbling liar is not something we would want for our community, our town or our club".