Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 14 May 2013

14 May 2013

"I'm no bait", "I 'in't a mob, I won't moan 1 bit", "mon tibia". Not, as you might think, the interior reflections of the referee, the Blundell Park crowd (full of new season good intentions, even if they would struggle with Michael Gove's new grammar test), and the new French signing Scott and Hurst will no doubt have secured, shortly after a ferocious tackle, next August. No, that is a representation of Grimbarian social media users eating their words after Scott Neilson (he of the anodyne quote for the benefit of Bedfordshire readers) signed a one-year contract with the Mariners yesterday.

Football makes us all lay judges and it is a particular pleasure when our condemnations are disproved. If the person who, slagging off a player moments before they score, does not accept in good part a sarcy "And you were just saying how well he was playing!" change seats; never mind not being a proper fan, that would not be a proper human.

After your Middle-Aged Diary has forgotten the David Cameron-like panic of Tony Gallimore being faced with a rampaging, confident right-winger, I will remember the afternoon he ventured hesitantly up our left flank and from close to the bye-line, shovelled over a cross which Stacy Coldicott bundled home - a crucial winning goal in an against-the-odds escape from relegation. It was a moment bathed in goodwill. As Gally trudged back to his starting position, a rueful smile on his face after a quiet, congratulatory word from Macca, spectators told each other how they had always said he was a model professional.

There is a rich source of anecdotage in the things we have said at a match, instantly and happily proved wrong, so share them. The days are getting longer and the news feeds are getting emptier; your Diary needs you.

On which note, Rob McIlveen has written in: "I'm stunned by the number of fifty-somethings who have emailed me about my appreciation of Kevin Moore. Evidently there are a lot of us out there who read the Diary but only rarely feel moved to contribute to it. So, at least some of us of a certain vintage do feel it fitting that GTFC rename the young player of the year the Kevin Moore young player of the year."

If part of the fun of being a fan is not having to stand by your opinions, Rob is determined to put his money where his mouth is. He reaffirms his willingness to fund an appropriate trophy or shield, and asks Cod Almighty to make the arrangements with the club if it wants to take advantage of his generous offer. We'll do our best Rob, and if anyone from the club (or the Trust, perhaps) is reading this and wants to be put in touch with Rob, we'll happily act as go-between.

Thank you, Rob, and thanks to you all for reading.