Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 6 March 2006

6 March 2006

"On this day in history," declares the Mariners' official website grandly on the page of stats it published at the weekend, "Town defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the 1939 FA Cup quarter finals to line-up an Old Trafford semi-final against Wolves." You should only hyphenate "line up" when you're using it as a compound noun, not a verb, but that's not relevant. The issue at stake here is that GTFC's famous cup exploits in the 1930s were probably watched by a few more than 6,000 people - but 6,000 is the modest and sensible target chosen by the club for its modest and sensibly named 'Target 6000' campaign, which aims to get Blundell Park just over half full for the six remaining home games of the current season. "As a final push from everybody associated with the club and the local community, the club have undertaken a campaign (with the support of the local press) to attempt to get 6000 home fans to each of the final 6 home games (TARGET 6000!) , starting with Barnet at Blundell Park next Saturday, 11th March 2006, kick off 3pm," is the copy transcribed directly to the OS from the back of a fag packet. A group of existing Town supporters, meanwhile, are already launching a 'Target 6' campaign following Gary Jones' excellent recent goal against Chester, in the hope of persuading the team to string six passes together six times more before the end of 2006.

Good news for Fen Butcher, bad news for Town's faltering promotion campaign: Rob Jones will be suspended for two matches for swearing at a linesman after the end of Saturday's draw at Rushden. The Mariners' official website confirms that one half of the team's 13'2" central defensive partnership will be missing as Barnet visit Blundell Park this weekend and remain out for next Tuesday's trip to Rochdale. Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of this sorry episode, though, is the reaction of the Stick's manager. Mr Russell Slade - who seemed to decide that Tony Crane's GTFC career was over after receiving an identical punishment for an identical offence against Darlington in August - has responded to Jones' inability to control his tongue with little more than a shrug of the shoulders, telling the Grimsby Telegraph: "Jonesy will obviously be a miss for us but we have to deal with that. You can understand why he was frustrated after their equaliser." Any other members of the playing squad who fancy a two-week holiday during the promotion run-in are advised to take note and prepare for the next match by thumbing through some back issues of Viz.