Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 10 June 2008

10 June 2008

In a couple of months' time the Mariners will begin a fifth successive season in the fourth division - the club's worst spell since entering the Football League in 1892. Attendances at Blundell Park for the 2008-09 campaign look set to slump to their lowest level for at least 20 years. Hope and belief are running dry. Amid these bleak truths, though, we can take some comfort from the bizarrely incongruous fact that the club's replica kit sales are at an all-time high. When the new synthetic fibres went on sale on Sunday, reports the club's superb new official website, hundreds of gasping supporters spent more than an hour queueing in sweltering heat to be among the first to get their sweaty mitts on the latest take on black and white stripes. "We sold over 400 shirts, taking over £13,000 in three hours. We've never experienced such a rush for a new shirt," said Town's accounts manager Steve Wraith, resisting the temptation to add: "which is nice, because these season tickets aren't exactly flying off the shelves."

GTFC may have the edge over local rivals Lincoln City in the two sides' head-to-head record, with 42 wins compared to just 28 for the Imps. And Town are the holders of current boasting rights between the two sides, with a league double against their neighbours last season following up victory in the 2006 play-off semi-finals. But the cathedral city has certainly put one over on the former fishing town in terms of Lincolnshire Cup wins, with Lincoln City having taken the title on a mighty 37 occasions compared with Grimsby Town's puny total of 36. The Mariners' chances of levelling up these wildly disparate figures will rest on the outcome of a match on Tuesday 29 July, when the two teams meet again in the semi-final of this season's competition. Or is it next season's? I'm never sure how that works.

Chris Jenkin has emailed the Diary with what he calls "a Tim Mickleburgh-esque note" in response to Felix Oliver-Tasker's musings last Thursday about the relative price of tickets to see GTFC and Chicago Cubs. "The reason baseball teams can afford to sell good seats for lower prices than Town or Premiership teams is because they play 81 home games a year," explains Chris. "The Cubs sell out nearly every home game as well, due to Wrigley Field being such a revered stadium - which, considering it holds over 40,000 people, is quite a good job. In a season they make much more on gate receipts than football teams. Hope this helps!" It helps very much, Chris - thanks for the information. I imagine the Cubs have a rather more sophisticated system for selling tickets online as well.

And finally today, a response to last week's plea for imaginary punning headlines about Straight Peter Bore. Ben Gresswell suggests: "Bore-d Peter Takes It Up The Arsenal (young and particularly straight Grimsby frontman signs for Gunners after becoming frustrated at lack of first team action... blah, blah, blah), Shirt Lifting Gets Bore-ing (impressively straight Mariners talisman Peter Bore is warned by the Football League over excessive goal celebration involving lifting up his shirt to reveal a Sergeant Whittle T-shirt) and Bore Dismisses Cottaging Link (youthfully straight Peter Bore has denied rumours that he has been tapped up by Fulham). Surely these must win a prize?" They'd certainly be in the running, Ben - and probably on the home straight.