Cod Almighty | Article
by Mat Hare
30 October 2003
I know the FA Cup is supposedly the greatest football cup competition on the entire planet but is it just me who doesn't really give a toss about it this year?
Don't get me wrong - I'm not getting all la-di-dah Man United about it because we are playing in the first round or anything. I just think it is a worthless distraction for us this year.
The Mariners' league form this season has not exactly been sensational. At the time of writing we are 13th, having picked up 7 points out of a possible 9 in recent weeks. That's exactly what we need to be doing. But earlier in the season we were very hit-and-miss, not at all as successful as many, myself included, expected us to be. We seem to be on the right track now so the last thing we need is something to distract us from what must be our ultimate aim: climbing the league table.
However, a distraction is what we have, in the form of a game against QPR in the FA Cup. Now I'm a big fan of Grimsby Town Football Club but I hope we bloody lose that match. Let's face it - we don't need the money a cup run generates. Yeah, it would be nice to have it but we don't need it. Not like Notts County, Oldham and even Leeds do. Not only are we not in the same boat as those clubs; I don't think we have even made our way down to the shore to peruse the available seafaring vessels.
Another thing we don't need is the plastic supporters that come from cup runs. Tens of thousands saw Grimsby play in the AWS final at Wembley in 1998. But did the '98-99 season see larger crowds as those fans stayed loyal to the cause? Did it bollocks! Bloody glory-hunting plastic supporters. And we will get that if we get to the third round of the FA Cup.
Will those fans go to the league games and spur the team on to glory against Wycombe and Plymouth? No. We need loyal fans who will support the team in their quest for promotion, not the part-time ponces who want to take the smooth while leaving the rough at the side of their plate like brussels sprouts at Christmas.
So I'm afraid I'll be hoping QPR win that cup tie and we can get back to the real job in hand. I urge you all to do the same. Fuck the cup but up the Mariners.