The grimsby town vs manchester united f.c. timeline is a rare and unusual one, made up almost entirely of matches from the 1930s and 1940s, punctuated by a single, dramatic modern-day meeting.
The two sides’ most recent encounter kicked off at 19:00 UTC on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at Blundell Park, where Grimsby Town stunned Manchester United on penalties in the EFL Cup.
That shootout victory ended a wait of more than seventy-five years for a competitive fixture between the clubs, and it instantly became one of the most famous results in Grimsby’s history.
This article sets out the grimsby town vs manchester united f.c. timeline in full, using the available historical record to trace the fixture from its origins in English football’s top flight through to last year’s cup shock.
Early Meetings and Historic Milestones
Grimsby Town and Manchester United met regularly in the old First Division during the 1930s and 1940s, a period when both clubs were competing in England’s top tier.
The two sides also faced off once in the FA Cup, back in 1931, when Grimsby won 1-0 at home, a result that came during a run to the fifth round before elimination by Liverpool.
Some of the League meetings produced high-scoring results, including a 7-3 Grimsby win on Boxing Day 1933 and a 6-2 Grimsby win in November 1936.
The last First Division meeting between the clubs came in March 1948, when Grimsby earned a 1-1 home draw, a match played only a few months after Grimsby had won 4-3 away in Manchester in October 1947.
After that 1948 fixture, the two clubs did not meet again competitively for 77 years, since Grimsby Town spent most of the following decades outside the top two divisions of English football.
That long wait finally ended in August 2025, when a League Cup draw paired the two sides for a third-round tie at Blundell Park.
Timeline of key eras
| Period | Notable outcome |
|---|---|
| 1931 | Only FA Cup meeting; Grimsby win 1-0 at home |
| 1932–1939 | Regular First Division meetings, several high-scoring |
| Dec 26, 1933 | Grimsby win 7-3 |
| Nov 14, 1936 | Grimsby win 6-2 |
| Oct 11, 1947 | Grimsby win 4-3 away in Manchester |
| Mar 17, 1948 | Last pre-2025 meeting; 1-1 draw at Grimsby |
| 1948–2025 | 77-year gap in fixtures between the clubs |
| Aug 27, 2025 | Most recent meeting; Grimsby win on penalties in the EFL Cup |
Key points from this era:
- The clubs met regularly in the First Division through the 1930s and into the late 1940s
- Their only FA Cup meeting, in 1931, was won by Grimsby
- Several of the historic league meetings were high-scoring affairs in Grimsby’s favour
- The clubs did not meet competitively for 77 years after March 1948
- That gap ended with a League Cup tie in August 2025
Head-to-Head Record and Recent Form
The most recent meeting between the two clubs, on August 27, 2025, ended 2-2 after ninety minutes in the EFL Cup third round at Blundell Park.
Grimsby Town went on to win the resulting penalty shootout 12-11, a marathon that instantly became one of the most talked-about cup shocks of the season.
Manchester United fielded a strong side that night, including Andre Onana, Harry Maguire, and Matheus Cunha, underlining the scale of the upset for the League Two hosts.
Given how little modern history exists between the clubs, most of the head-to-head picture is drawn from wartime and post-war First Division fixtures rather than recent form.
Grimsby’s win in August 2025 was their first competitive result against Manchester United since the 1940s, a gap that makes the shootout victory all the more historic for the Mariners.
Notable historic results
| Date | Result |
|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2025 | Grimsby Town 2-2 Man Utd (Grimsby win 12-11 on penalties) |
| Mar 17, 1948 | Grimsby Town 1-1 Man Utd |
| Oct 11, 1947 | Man Utd 3-4 Grimsby Town |
| Dec 28, 1946 | Grimsby Town 0-0 Man Utd |
| Jan 14, 1939 | Man Utd 3-1 Grimsby Town |
| Nov 14, 1936 | Grimsby Town 6-2 Man Utd |
| Dec 26, 1933 | Grimsby Town 7-3 Man Utd |
| 1931 | Grimsby Town 1-0 Man Utd (FA Cup) |
Key points from this section:
- The most recent meeting, in August 2025, ended in a dramatic penalty shootout win for Grimsby
- Manchester United fielded a strong senior squad for that EFL Cup tie
- The result was Grimsby’s first competitive success over United since the 1940s
- The two clubs’ historic meetings were almost all played in the old First Division
- Grimsby have generally held their own historically, including several high-scoring wins