Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 6 February 2013

6 February 2013

Before we get too excited about this promotion push, let's take a moment and consider a few things. Do we really want to be back in a league where an external company becomes responsible for producing much shorter match highlights using a commentator who does his best to make out he was there at the time, when we all know he's given the tape that evening and told to talk over it? He'll probably mispronounce players' names because he's totally unfamiliar with players outside of the Premier League. In all honesty we've been spoilt by the current video crew, which often produces match highlights lasting ten minutes and has added some value to subscribing to Mariners Player.

Do we want to be back in a league where a company controls which websites can publish the season's fixture list? Do we also want to be in a league where exiled fans like your West Yorkshire Diary can't log onto Radio Humberside's website and listen to their excellent match coverage online for free? I suppose the answer is yes, given that we all want to see the club prosper since it plays such a large part in the local economy and can sometimes affect the entire mood of North East Lincolnshire.

Don't get me wrong: I dislike being non-League as much as the next Mariners fan, given the illustrious history of the club. But there is a kind of likeable charm about the Football Conference - a sense of going back to your roots; seeing football as it used to be. There are none of these cloned football stadia and fewer pretentious players - just honest people trying to make a profession out of the sport.

I've often thought about how I have more in common with the players I see at this level of football than I do with those I used to see in the Football League. A lot of them are part-time; they're just fans who have grasped an opportunity to play football on a pretty good level. You see it in some Town players too. Think of the privileged career of someone like Peter Sweeney and then consider someone like Liam Hearn, Shaun Pearson or Ross Hannah. Whose career paths resonate more with you? Which players make you think that you could be down there on the pitch, wearing the shirt and scoring goals for Grimsby?

To consider how far removed the top level of football is from the crowd it plays in front of, week in, week out, is truly frightening. I for one am proud that I feel close to the players. I just hope that connection - which has been brought about by being in the Conference - doesn't disappear as a result of a promotion we've all been craving for.

Anyway, we're getting well ahead of ourselves. There are still 17 league games to go - many more, if you happen to be Gateshead. The gap at the top is three points - the most it's ever been while we've been top (and it feels like we've been top for a good while now, bar the week of bad weather). Wrexham appear to be our likeliest rivals for automatic promotion, but the Telegraph's deputy sports editor Lee Jones believes it could also be Mansfield.

News today involves a possible loan move for Greg Pearson to Town's Saturday opponents Telford. Any move is likely to take place after the weekend, I would've thought.

Town's left-back Aswad Thomas, who will probably need to rewrite his Twitter biog if the Mariners do win promotion to the Football League, played in England C's 1-0 defeat to Turkey last night. Andi Thanoj's game for the Albanian under-21s takes place tonight.

Oh hello - and what's this? Mike Newell and Brian Stein linked with the vacant Swindon post? I wonder if Newell observes job application etiquette by listing Town's non-chairman Deadly John as a reference for being his most recent employer. What would the reference read like? Email your thoughts to diary@codalmighty.com.

Finally, the FA Trophy, and an all-GTFC final is a step closer after Gainsborough Trinity beat Barrow 2-0 last night to set up a two-legged semi against Wrexham. I'll be surprised if Trinity get past Wrexham over 180 minutes, but this has been the year for cup upsets so you never know. Meanwhile the Mariners should find out tonight whether it's Dartford or Halifax in the other semi-final when the two teams play their replay tonight in Kent. For the sake of time, petrol and the environment, let's hope the Shaymen pull off a bit of a shock.