Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 30 April 2013

30 April 2013

To enjoy sport (yes, following Grimsby Town is meant to be a pleasure), a sense of perspective is essential. There will be times we lose. After England lost a penalty shoot-out, Middle-Aged Diary's son, about six at the time, lay sobbing on the sofa, inconsolable, until I reminded him that Doctor Who would be starting in 20 minutes. Losing to Wrexham at Wembley was disappointing, assuaged for those who had a broad enough outlook to talk to Wrexham fans and realise they were decent people, passionate about their club, just like us.

It is not all about the Mariners. The idiot who, when rebuked for booing the Welsh national anthem, went into a rant about being proud to be English is seeing less than half the picture. You can be proud to be English and respect other nations. You can be proud to support Grimsby, disappointed when they lose. However, when you reflect on what Newport and Wrexham supporters have endured over the last two decades - and their achievements in resurrecting one club and saving the other - you can, should, be proud to be a football supporter as well. If you can't, you need to take lessons from my then six-year-old son.

Finishing fourth in your league and reaching a Wembley final is by most standards a good season. If it is not enough for you, buy yourself a Sky subscription and pretend to support Manchester United. We have a young side, with the potential to do even better. You will miss out if you do not stay to watch them grow. We will all miss out if we do not allow them to grow.

Life goes on, and death also. Given its inevitability, a match is often given an extra pitch of pleasure when it is preceded by a minute's silence: the pause to reflect, to meditate, finally giving way to full-throated physical expression, the whole-hearted enjoyment of something that is both an expression of human accomplishment but also only a game.

Today, the minute's silence follows the action, and perhaps the trend for a minute's applause is more appropriate. It is questionable, with how football finance has changed, whether a club like Grimsby would today be able to attract players like Trevor Whymark and Chris Nicholl, and to retain, for as long as we did, players like Joe Waters, Tony Ford, Kevin Drinkell and Paul Wilkinson. Each of those would feature in many Town supporters' all-time best XIs - but there would be arguments about many of them, dilemmas about who should make way for them.

The only argument about Kevin Moore, who has died after a long illness, would be to decide where he should play, and who should partner him. All those players had good careers, and are Grimsby greats. Kevin Moore, denied a move to what was the best club in Europe at the time, had the potential to be a great not only at Blundell Park but in the English game as a whole.

Please use the feedback form to send us your memories of Kevin Moore so that Cod Almighty can pay proper tribute to him. In the meantime, I can do nothing better than to recommend this fine memoir on the official site.

Rest in peace.