Grimsby Town have confirmed the signing of defender Toby Mullarkey from recently relegated Rochdale after triggering the release clause in his contract, according to their official website.
Defender Mullarkey, who only joined Rochdale in late January after impressing for National League side Altrincham, has signed a two-year-deal with the Mariners and becomes the club’s second signing of the summer following the signature of Stevenage striker Danny Rose on a two-year-deal for an undisclosed fee.
📝 We are pleased to announce that defender Toby Mullarkey has become our second summer signing and has signed a two-year deal after the Club triggered a release clause in his contract!
🤝 Welcome to the Mariners, @MullarkeyToby!#GTFC
— Grimsby Town F.C. (@officialgtfc) June 8, 2023
Who is Toby Mullarkey?
Capable of playing as a right-back as well as centre-half, defender Toby Mullarkey started his footballing career with Crewe Alexandra and despite going out on loan to Leek Town in order to get some experience, he eventually left the club in 2017 after failing to make a single appearance for the Railwaymen.
A spell at Nantwich Town followed, before leaving the club to sign for Altrincham in May 2019. During his three-and-a-half-year stint at Moss Lane, Mullarkey went on to appear for the club a total of 94 times in a spell in which he also found the back of the net on seven appearances.
With strong interest from clubs in and around the EFL during January 2023, the defender opted to sign for Rochdale on a one-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee on January Deadline Day.
Despite making 12 appearances for the Dale, Mullarkey was unable to help the Dale survive the drop as Rochdale ended the season bottom of the League Two table, with the club set to embark on a season in the National League.
Grimsby going under the radar?
Grimsby Town will be looking to build on last season’s 11th-place finish back in the Football League following promotion back to the EFL in 2022 via the National League playoffs, led by current boss Paul Hurst.
In a season in which the Mariners also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, their appearance at that stage of the competition since 1939 after beating the likes of Luton Town and Southampton, the Mariners ended the season winning 16 of their 46 league matches, picking up 61 points and finished just a point behind 9th placed Barrow.
Writer’s View
As a Grimsby Town fan myself writing this piece, I really like the look of Toby Mullarkey. He’s clearly been a player in which Paul Hurst has been interesting for a while now and he finally has his man.
A couple of key aspects I like about the 27-year-old is his versatility in playing in other positions, as well as being more of a ball-playing centre-half which gives the club something different to how they play and what they already have with the likes of Niall Maher and Luke Waterfall.
Alongside the recent acquisition of Danny Rose from Stevenage, I think a few more signings of that calibre and I don’t see a single reason whatsoever why Grimsby can’t go on and have a successful season in the upcoming campaign.
