Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 9 May 2003

9 May 2003

Despite GTFC's relegation costing a million squid and the club being one of the less well supported in Division Two, Paul Groves might have a bob or two to spend on players this summer. "There was no money whatsoever during [last] summer," explains the player-boss on Town's official site. "This year, the board are talking in a different manner, and obviously we want to try and get a squad together that can compete and do well in the second division." All of which talk tallies tantalisingly with Peter's persuasive pledge earlier this week that the Mariners will be chasing "players who we are sure you will find of interest". So who can they have in mind?

Well, the Diary is not alone in noting that Peter Handyside has just been released by Stoke - very much a case of "Too late - I quit!", as the former Town centre-half was far from happy at the Britannia in any case. The next few weeks should show whether the rumours of Handyside's return to Grimsby that have been circulating for some months have any basis in fact or are just fishful thinking. The player proved when moving from Lincs to Staffs that he had no qualms about dropping a division, but whether he would do so again to play for a club with more goalkeepers than fans remains to be seen.

In case you've not seen it, voting is now under way in Cod Almighty's Messageboard Nesbit of the Season competition, where we seek to recognise and celebrate the vital work of entertainment done by gormless dipsticks over the length and breadth of the internet. Cast your vote now and enter the running to win a voucher for the GTFC club shop.

Loath though the Diary is to stir up controversy, another reader has emailed taking exception to the new Town kit. Said reader was watching the Brighton match on telly with his mate, who "asked me if the numbers on the back of tucked-in Town shirts were supposed to be half hidden by the players' shorts or is it going to be compulsory for these shirts not to be tucked in?" As a dyed-in-the-wool slacker, the Diary certainly hopes so. If you ask me, all the flair and magic went out of football the day the FA made untucked shirts a cautionable offence.

And at last a sensible explanation to the mystery over Town keepers wearing green. "In answer to your question about the superstition of Grimsby goalkeepers," writes Captain J R Sensible, "I can report that green is generally thought of as an unlucky colour in seafaring towns such as Grimsby - possibly because it is the hardest colour to see against the dark rolling waves should anyone fall overboard wearing it. This is presumably why sou'westers and other trawling apparel are bright yellow. Quite how any goalkeeper expects to be playing football in such stormy weather that they are swept out of their 18-yard box, over the Main Stand and into the North Sea is beyond me. But that's superstitions for you."

Don't know whether to carry on writing a Diary on Saturdays over the close season. What would I put in it?