Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 5 December 2002

5 December 2002

A return to Blundell Park for sprightly striker Michael Boulding comes a step closer today as the player goes public with his interest in the move. "If I was fit I'd be there now," Boulding announces in today's Grimsby Telegraph. Town fans - not to mention manager Paul Groves - would be delighted to take Boulding back, with his goal spree late last season still fresh in the memory; but the player - who joined Aston Villa on a Bosman in the summer - is currently nursing an ankle injury and won't be fit for a week or two. "I'm obviously interested in going back to Grimsby because I enjoyed my time there," continues Boulding. "But I've got to make sure that my injury has completely healed before I do anything."

Former Mariner Andy Tillson has retired from the game. The classy centre-half joined third division Rushden and Diamonds from Walsall in March and helped them reach last season's play-off final but has succumbed to persistent injury problems at the age of 36. Tillson was one of Alan Buckley's first signings for Town in 1988, joining from the manager's former club Kettering, and made 128 appearances before moving to top-flight Queens Park Rangers for a then club record £650,000. He returned on loan in 1992 shortly before signing for Bristol Rovers, where he spent eight years until joining Walsall in 2000.

Peter Kenyon, the chief executive of boring big club Manchester United, has given an indication of the Premiership's hidden agenda by calling for over half of England's 92 league clubs to be kicked out of professional football. "There has to be a review of the structure," says Kenyon in a BBC Radio Five Live documentary broadcast tonight. "I can't see much beyond the first two divisions being professional and the third being semi-professional, so probably around 40 clubs." Manchester United reported pre-tax profits in September of £32.3 million.