Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 27 May 2013

27 May 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: Oh dear. No sooner do I mention in Friday's diary that season ticket prices at Blundell Park have remained static for several years than the club decide to increase them. Not by a lot, though: £19 on the early bird rate for adults in the Pontoon and £20 in the Upper Findus. I freely admit that I am in the privileged position of being able easily to afford the increase in my season ticket price, but I was still surprised at how much upset it seems to be causing among some fans.

Too Good to Go Down has expressed his opinion in a post which points out that the increase of over 7% is nearly three times the current rate of inflation. That doesn't seem to me like much of a reason to object to the rise, given that the cumulative rate of inflation since the last price increase in 2006 is about 20%. Likewise, the suggestion that the cost of supporting Town compares unfavourably with the £395 it will be to purchase a season ticket to watch Premiership football at Hull next season. The reasons people support football teams are many and varied, but I suspect value for money is very rarely one of them.

If people do begin to choose their football teams as they would a tin of beans or a litre of petrol, then they'll also need to factor in the mileage costs and those Humber Bridge tolls, plus the fact that in the Premiership there are only 19 home games, to arrive at a true unit cost comparison. What it would do to their psychological wellbeing to switch allegiance from Grimsby to Hull is probably a can of worms best left unopened.

What surprises me most is not that the ticket prices at Blundell Park have finally increased, but by how little. I suspect that the majority of committed fans would keep going to games no matter what the cost; would somehow find the money no matter how difficult. So why didn't the club go for a bigger price increase to bring in some serious extra revenue? As it is, they are annoying fans for very little reward, which seems to be the worst of both worlds.

I see that Andy Cook has received a call up to the England C squad to play against Bermuda on 4 June. My first thought was: about time too; my second was that it's a pity he'll have to interrupt his holidays to play. But then I saw that the game is actually taking place in Bermuda, so not such a hardship after all. Good luck Andy.

Having read the Cod Almighty tribute to Kevin Moore, I am sorry that he was from an era which pre-dates my experience of Town. Nevertheless, I paid a small tribute by adding his name to a memorial roll read out on a memory walk I attended last weekend and spent the walk hearing reminiscences of Kevin's playing days from my partner. Now the club have announced that they will be opening a book of condolence for Kevin on 3 June to allow fans to pay their respects. Get on down to Blundell Park to share your memories - and buy one of those over-priced season tickets while you're there.