Cod Almighty | Diary

Don't mention the ticket prices

2 June 2025

Miss Guest Diary writes: It's pretty much a given these days that a woman with time on her hands, especially if she is in later life, will join a reading group; I'm no exception. Something said by one of the characters in the latest book my group has been reading struck a chord with me. I won't bother to tell you what the book is as it's rather gloomy and definitely wouldn't appeal to the average CA reader; it's about a group of elderly people in a rundown residential hotel – think Fawlty Towers without the laughs. One of them is reflecting on how difficult it is to fill her days and remarks that when she looked at the clock as a young woman it was always later than she expected it to be, now it is always much earlier.

What's that got to do with Town? Well, when I looked at the calendar this morning I saw that the close season is not even a month old but it feels like it has been going on for ever. With no plans to go to the two local pre-season games, it's going to be at least six weeks before I can hope to get a glimpse of the new squad. The fixture list comes out on the 26th – that's over three weeks, in fact 24 days – before I can start to plan for next season in earnest. Pondering about the first and last games, who we've got on Boxing Day, how many Tuesday night home games providing the opportunity for pre-match fish and chips, etc.

At least we now have the complete list of teams in our division. I was a little disappointed that the final piece in the jigsaw was Oldham – it's an easier journey than Southend, but I've never seen Town win at Boundary Park and it is, of course, the scene of Paul Groves's last stand as Town manager.

I can tell from social media that I'm not the only one looking to fill the close-season gap but it's disappointing to see some doing so by looking for things to complain about. I shouldn't be surprised really; I twigged early on that many Grimbarians have a chip in their shoulder and love a good moan – back in the day I even wrote a piece about it for Sing When We're Fishing. I dare say if I was to visit the message boards and hashtags of other teams I would find that Mariners aren't unique in rushing to judgment and posting brutal comments about their club. Everything from the state of the pitch, to the change in format for the player of the year awards, to the lack of player signings before the transfer window is even open, to the inability of the owners to freeze ticket prices in a world of rising costs has come in for condemnation in recent weeks.

Sometimes it all feels a bit too much for me, even as a bystander; I can only imagine what it must feel like for the people who spend their time (and money) in running the club. I know that those posting on the internet are a small minority, but the trouble with the silent majority is just that – they are silent. Which is why it was so refreshing to read A46 diary's take on last week's tempest in a teapot. I just hope that Town's owners may have read it too and taken some comfort.