Grimsby Town Football Club is excited to announce the signing of Stephen Wearne on a one-year deal.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder joins the Mariners after his two-year spell with Sunderland came to an end in May. Wearne progressed through the youth ranks at Newcastle United and later Middlesbrough before turning professional with the Riverside Stadium club in 2019. Ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, the County Durham lad signed for Sunderland and after a year playing for their development side, he made his professional debut in the Black Cats’ 2-1 EFL Trophy win against Lincoln City in October last year, where he scored the winning goal. After two further appearances in the EFL Trophy, Wearne joined Torquay United on loan in January and made 14 appearances for the Gulls in the National League, scoring three on three occasions.

The former Sunderland midfielder spoke to gtfc.co.uk about his move to Blundell Park.

“I’m over the moon to sign for a club like Grimsby Town, it was an easy decision for me. I had a few offers, but I was waiting for the one which felt right. I had a phone call with the Gaffer, and I really liked his ambition, so as soon as I put the phone down, I knew this was where I wanted to be.”

“I watched the play-off games last season and I’m excited to experience the same togetherness the group had. Also, the football was dead exciting as well so I’m looking forward to being part of it!”

“Next season I just want to play as many games as I can and create as many goals as possible, whether that’s by scoring or providing assists. I want to play exciting football and I hope I can get the fans off their seats.”

Town boss Paul Hurst also gave his reaction to Wearne joining the Mariners.

“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 United 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.”

You can now watch Stephen Wearne’s first interview as a Mariner on GTTV.

https://youtu.be/4eZOStF4K78

Welcome to the club, Stephen!

UTM