Tambourine man Why our happy band at Grimsby will keep sharing spotlight as we focus on future

I'n the 1980s, a big night out meant my brothers and mates donning our shiny shirts, necking several pints of Tennent's, then shuffling around the dancefloor of Pier 39 nightclub in Cleethorpes to the sound of George Benson's Give Me the Night.

- Jason Stockwood

Decades later I found out that the person who wrote this song, Rod Temperton, was a former fish filleter, born down the road from that now-defunct nightspot. He also played in the band Heatwave, wrote on Michael Jackson's Thriller album and has a back catalogue that puts him in the pantheon of great songwriters. I love the pictures of Rod next to Quincy Jones in the studios of LA or hearing his Lincolnshire accent talking about writing for Donna Summer. Despite his monumental success, he was known as The Invisible Man in the music industry owing to his low profile.

I've been fortunate to work with several brilliant people throughout my career who, like Rod, are more substance over spotlight, people happy to do the work to make the organisation look good but don't require the recognition themselves. Andrew Pettit, my partner at Grimsby Town, is one such leader. When we took control of the club in 2021 we agreed that the chair role would have a three-year term. Last week we announced that my term was up. Neither of us wanted the role, but we knew what was required was to help drive cultural transformation. As I had spent a large part of my career doing this work, it made sense for me to take the first shift. Now it's Andrew's turn.