Player persuaded to join Grimsby after chance encounter with fan in Mexico

Sometimes footballers can decide a career move on a whim. Other times their decision can be a long and labouring process.

For Stephen Wearne, he let fate decide his next move. The midfielder left Sunderland at the end of last season after three years at the Stadium of Light. He admits he had a number of offers on the table but was struggling to decide on which one to take up.

Then, by chance, he was on holiday in Mexico weighing up his options when he spotted a Grimsby fan - and that was enough to convince him to move to the newly-promoted Mariners. Wearne immediately rang Grimsby chief Paul Hurst back and it wasn't long before the ink was soon drying on a one-year deal.

"We were out one night and I said to my girlfriend, 'I don't know what the right thing to do is here'," he told the BBC.

"Other managers were pressuring me to make a decision. I said to her - I need a sign. I went to bed that night, next morning, I came out of the lift and the first guy I see has a Grimsby top on. And I just said, 'That's the sign'. It's done.

"It just shows how many (Grimsby) fans there are. I didn't speak to the guy, he was quite a young lad, but if you were in Cancun, Mexico - reach out and I'll send you something! Because that's the reason why I'm here. He probably thought I was a bit of a weirdo because me and my girlfriend were just staring at him."

Hurst says he is delighted with the signing of Wearne, who spent the second half of last season on loan at National League side Torquay United.

Hurst said: "Stephen is an attacking player who can play in the wide areas, behind a striker or as a more attack-minded midfielder. He's versatile, very clever, good at finding pockets of space and comfortable receiving the ball and being creative with it.

"It's important that we have a couple of players in the squad who are versatile. We don't want to have a massive squad, so I'm sure at some point, he'll be able to show his versatility. However, in my mind, we have signed him to be one of the creative players at the top end of the pitch."

"I think he's at an age now that he's ready for men's football after having a decent spell out on loan at Torquay last season. He was doing very well there until he suffered an injury. Speaking to him, he's a lad who's clearly very passionate about his job and wants to do well. So, I think we're getting a hungry player that's keen to impress and I'm certainly looking forward to working with him."

Grimsby, who sealed an immediate promotion back to the EFL by beating Solihull in the play-off final, head to Leyton Orient in their League Two opener on July 30.