Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 13 March 2007

13 March 2007

The passing of Bernard Morley is to be marked before this Saturday's match not with a minute's silence but with one of those formal periods of clapping which have very recently become the done thing. The Grimsby Telegraph reports a club statement that "30 seconds of rapturous applause" will precede the game against Swindon to honour both the former supporters' club chairman and GTFC employee Nikki Roberts, who worked in the players' lounge at Blundell Park and died two weeks ago following a lengthy illness. "Instead of having a minute's silence, we are going to have a period of applause," John Fenty has told the local paper. "I am pretty sure [Bernard] will be looking down and smiling on us. I think he would appreciate that. Hopefully we will get a win on the back of it, too, in his memory."

Inexplicably pluralised former Mariners boss Grahams Rodgerses, who returned to the Blundell Park payroll a month ago, still wants the best for the club and hopefully can help that in his role at the Football in the Community. "I still want the best for the club and hopefully I can help that in my role at the Football in the Community," he has told the Grimsby Telegraph. Good luck with that, Grezza.

Professional footballer? Professional boxer? Or just a full-time ditherer? It must be at least five minutes since the twists and turns of Curtis Woodhouse's sporting career last made the headlines, so let's check on what the former GTFC playmaker is up to these days. Curt signed an 18-month contract with the Mariners in January 2006, you may recall, with the intention to swap the pitch for the ring six months later. Within three months, however, he twatted a copper in Bridlington, and was sentenced in November to 120 hours of community service - which had to be completed before the British Boxing Board of Control would renew his licence. Whether that has happened the Diary knows not, but when Woody went back to football in the autumn to sign for Rushden & Diamonds of the Conference it seemed that his pugilistic days could be numbered, and this week it looks like the player/fighter's second U-turn in a year could soon be complete as Town's thuggish fourth division rivals Chester have expressed an interest in signing him. "I spoke to his boxing agent on Friday night and he told me he's available," said comedy Deviants chairman Stephen Vaughan, though there is no word yet from Hollywood on the bidding for rights to produce the Woodhouse biopic.

Last up today, our higher education correspondent Durham Diary has taken time out from his hectic schedule of living it up with the Oxbridge rejects to comment upon yesterday's raging controversy surrounding the funding of university education. "They have loans and grants you know, you don't even have to be able to pay yourself," writes DD. "I can't count, can't punctuate my own sentences and can't get out of bed, yet here I am." The hour still being before 2pm, I am compelled to point out to any readers experiencing feelings of dizziness and confusion at this point that Durham's email was sent last night, not this morning.