Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 26 May 2009

26 May 2009

I expect you've seen by now, so there seems little point in rehashing the weekend's news that Town's excitable communications team couldn't wait until 8 June after all to tell us about the big cut - sorry, Slash! - to season ticket prices this summer. It would look a bit strange if we didn't bother, though, so let's try and find an angle. The big thing for the club was clearly to try and retain some of the fans who decided to support their club in its darkest and deepest hour of need, right at the end of last season, when they were bribed with discounts, and the superb new official website breathlessly reveals that GTFC officials "have been working flat out to try and find a sensible way forward" to this end. As well as cutting - sorry, Slashing! - season ticket prices to, the Grimsby Telegraph points out, the same as in 2001, there seems to be something called a "New 5 League Match Trial" whereby the prices for matchday tickets will be a couple of quid cheaper as well for a while, challenging fans who've promised to return to the club on the condition of price cuts to put their money where their mouth is.

Naturally, the response has been mixed. Many supporters seem to be welcoming what seems an honest and well considered response to the economic situation and the really quite helpful if belated surge of support in April and May. Grimsby would not be Grimsby, however, if there were not a sizeable contingent of observers who see the world through shit-coloured spectacles. "I personally think they have put the wool over peoples eyes," offers one glass-half-emptyist in the Grimsby Telegraph's comment section. "How come Blackburn Rovers can charge £199 for a season ticket yet we a divison 2 side charge a lot more ?????" asks another. Well, the Diary is no accountant but, just as a wild stab in the dark, I suspect the answer to this might be vaguely connected with "divison 2" sides not receiving 60 million quid a year in TV money.

Ultimately the success of the Mariners' new promotional wheeze may depend to a large extent on the skill with which it is implemented on the ground. The club, as we know, has often acted with the best of intentions, only for its measures to be derailed by the staggering administrative incompetence in which it largely remains mired. "Good to hear the new kit is available to buy," begins an email from Diary reader Martyn Wyburn. "My fashion-conscious son tried to buy his fashion-conscious dad a shirt for my birthday last year. There was a problem processing the order and so he rang the club. They promised to get back to him but never did. He bought me something else instead. Still, it's alright - it's not as if the club needs the money."

Let's talk about something actually to do with the football, then. Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro has been offered an extension to his contract, which currently runs until the end of next season. Already capable of striking fear into lumpen fourth division defences, J-LAA is bound to improve with a full pre-season behind him and some expert coaching from Mr Re-Newell. For all these reasons, the Diary very much hopes he accepts - and very much hopes we get to hear the audio one day of an interview with the player and discover how the word 'gaffer' sounds in a Toulouse accent.

Finally, the Diary's heartfelt congratulations to Scunthorpe. For one thing, in these days where money speaks louder than ever, it is even better to see smaller clubs progressing up the league, whoever they are. Secondly, it is pleasing to see a big reward for any club that deals a significant blow to the progress of the Buckinghamshire franchise football operation - instead of, say, rearranging your fixtures to assist in their push for promotion, like, say, Grimsby disgracefully did last year. Thirdly, the more Town fans seem to be falling into this daft 'local rivalry' trap - instead of looking out for Scunthorpe's results and cheering them on, like we used to when the Diary was a little lad - the more stupid the whole thing looks, and so a fair few misguided noses must have been put quite out of joint by Scunthorpe's fantastic and fully deserved promotion. Very well done, Scunny. Very well done on all counts.