Cod Almighty | Diary

I think I might actually like football

11 September 2025

The foundations upon which Hurstian Grimsby was built was pragmatism. It was enough to see us squeeze our way back into the football league, twice, via the play-offs (the second in rather dramatic and un-Hurstian fashion). It was a style built on industry, hard work and, of course, shape. It was football fit for its time, and it served us well.

But industry, hard work and shape only gets you so far — to the quarter finals of the FA Cup, for instance. No, hang on… this doesn’t fit my narrative! Look, he was a very good manager. He got us promoted out of non-League, twice, under immense pressure. And while it’s become easier and maybe even trendy to lazily summarise his style into as fewer words as possible given how we’ve performed since his departure, he still remains the only manager since Buckley to deliver the goods. We owe him one (or two) for that.

But today we’re in Artellian Grimsby, an era built on inclusion, sensibilities, and a smattering of data science. Patience, tolerance and incremental improvements are all vital components in our collective quest to not only rediscover but also, maybe, redefine the ‘Grimsby Way’. No grand gestures, no unwieldly promises, no obstinacy. Just hearty, wholesome stuff, which doesn’t marginalise fans or treat them as commodities but, in a rather radical idea for modern football, treats them fairly, respectfully, and brings them along for the journey.

We’re still a few months short of his two-year anniversary, but your West Yorkshire Diary found himself re-reading the article the club published when it appointed David Artell as head coach. I couldn’t help but notice how your typical football platitudes and zombie-like quotes were left at the door and, instead, how it was filled with personable, meaningful substance that rings true as much today as it did back then.

Running through it like the word ‘Cleethorpes’ in a stick of rock was a sense of mutual respect that showed David Artell chose us just as much as we chose David Artell.

Sir Stockwood talked about Artell’s ‘impact’; in particular, his track record of integrating and improving young players into the first team at Crewe, and also how he got his teams playing attractive football. In fact, the youth academy was centralised in the quotes as much as Artell’s academic achievements were.

It also isn’t typical for managers (or head coaches) to be praised upon their appointment for their ‘curiosity’ in the world, but Grimsby Town and its board aren’t typical people. Re-reading the article once again, it seems even more apparent to me — and I'm sure to everyone else who re-reads it — that our owners smashed through the superficial blancmange to go deeper in their search to find a kindred spirit.

The last 18 months haven’t been without their wobbles, of course. No one enjoyed getting smashed at home to Walsall, Doncaster and Runaway’s Swindon. The margin of those defeats may have spelled trouble in the Hurstian period, in which defeats were attritional and by finer margins.

But in this brave new Artellian world, with us competing at the top end of the division, those heavy defeats start to make a little more sense. Players were always given more freedom, and encouraged to solve problems themselves. They’ve been allowed to be expressive and play with fewer inhibitions. And with fewer fears to hold them back, we’re now seeing a cohesive team perform closer to its potential, and perhaps we’ve seen the last of the days when good players on paper sign and underperform (see: Manchester United).

The clouds have lifted, the dial has shifted, and we seem to have hit a groove where the needle is kicking out some lovely tunes. It's funny what a change in culture from the very top of a football club can do for so many people. UTM!