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The Mariners' supporters, like the town, find it difficult to catch a break. Known for their passionate and boisterous away support, the lads of Blundell Park enjoy fierce local rivalries, and, according to government figures for the 2013/2014 season, Grimsby Town had more banning orders than any other team in the Vanarama Conference and League 2. These antics have caught the eye of Sacha Baron Cohen, who is currently making a film that looks set to raise the profile of the town from post-industrial globalization casualty to pop-culture joke, instilling it with the same international credibility awarded on post-Borat Kazakhstan.The general election in Grimsby, a moment for the town to potentially dust down its tired news-fodder stereotype, played out as a similarly embarrassing real-life mockumentary. The UKIP candidate Victoria Ayling, having got the traditional xenophobic quip out of the way early on, asked the hard questions about renewable energy, while the outgoing Labour MP made things difficult by complacently joking in an interview that Labour would win the seat even if they selected "a raving sex pedophile." Nigel Farage also briefly turned up and, as punishment, the media made him go on a boat trip to see offshore wind turbines with Joey Essex.The one-step-forward, two-steps-back politics the town has been subjected to for years is not limited to parliamentary proceedings. The local council has form for futile attempts at improving things, most recently pouring money into a geometric paving pattern that is so hypnotically mesmerizing that it nearly killed somebody. On a much more promising note, the constituency of Great Grimsby can now boast a female Labour MP brought up on a local council estate, giving her a major insight into the plight local people are facing and answering the calls for "real people" in Westminster.Grimsby is unfortunate, not just because of its circumstances, but because of an endless comical repetition of them. It's a place long-forgotten by politicians and in desperate need of help. The people are resilient, humorous, and aware of their far from perfect surroundings, but they're at the mercy of macro-economic factors way beyond them. Grimsby isn't perfect, but it's not the one-dimensional shit-hole it's often made out to be.Thumbnail image via Channel 4READ ON VICE SPORTS: The Quest to Make Baseball Relevant in Its Birthplace