Cod Almighty | Postbag

Films, fights and fiascos

18 May 2013

Grimsby in film, an apology to Phil Ball and a conspiracy theory. It could only be the... well, no, it could be lots of things, but it so happens it is the Cod Almighty postbag.

Grimsby in film

Memphis Belle – filmed at Binbrook? I'm sure a mate of mine from school at the time was an extra in a crowd scene.

from Rich Mills

Grimsby in film II

A quick Google confirms that Atonement was filmed partly in the Ice House and around the docks. I'm sure there was a shoot-em-up computer game set in Grimmo as well – Resistance: Fall of Man. Which leaves it about 3–1 to 'it's grim in Grimsby', I fear.

from Rory Dillon

Letters Ed responds: Rich and Rory are responding to last week's correspondence about films shot in North East Lincolnshire (adding to Clockwise and Made in England).

It's not about Wales

Dear Cods 

I am twice indebted to you chaps – one for actually looking at the postbag (I know it's tough, with a full-time job to also cope with, etc) and for the wondrous reply from the Welsh affairs correspondent. Welsh affairs? Is that a tryst between Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones? 

I find it interesting that the reply to my letter failed miserably to answer any of the questions posed, but instead chose to paint the objections raised as an anti-Welsh rant. Nothing of the sort sir. I have lived and written in Spain for many aeons now, and only tread the crumbling soil of the UK to see Grimsby play, from time to time. I am as indifferent to Welsh affairs as I am to English ones. I was merely objecting to what seems to me as adulteration, as opposed to adultery. I am also quite happy for Newport. Theirs has been a fairly long wander in the wilderness. Town clearly bungled the play-offs, to which I have no objection. 

The points I raised ineffably remain, and the rather sad insinuations of anti-Welsh sentiment have made them all the more significant. The judgement on Artell, as far as I can make out, has still not been justified or satisfactorily explained. But far worse, surely, was Wrexham's final-day decision to allow Mansfield to win automatic promotion? Your correspondent ignores the topic, at his convenience I suspect. Since the FA fined Wolves for putting out a reserve side against Man Utd, the rules vis-à-vis such incidents seem to have become rather cloudy – such that the whole notion of a 'reserve side' is legally impossible to define when a club is permitted a playing squad of 25 members. 

But surely, on the cusp of the play-offs, Wrexham's behaviour could easily be defined (legally) as match-throwing, leading to their expulsion from the play-offs and the eleventh-hour inclusion of the side who finished sixth, as long as it wasn't Luton? 

I'm sorry, but I found the whole process ethically questionable, after a 46-game season of sweat and toil. Newport, although they are less guilty, should also have made rather more effort at Blundell Park the week before, since their behaviour enabled them to choose their play-off opponent. I salute their guile, but I think that in future, whether it is Welsh, English, Cornish nationalists, Breton leek-sellers or Rutland maypole-dancers involved, the play-off process should be cleaned up.

from Phil Ball

Letters Ed responds: Phil and I have exchanged a few friendly emails about this since, and it's clear that Phil, in Spain, was unaware how much anti-Welsh sentiment had been deposited in the social media, which coloured our response. Our Welsh affairs correspondent has been put back in his cubbyhole to work on his three-volume biography of Rhys Wilmot, although he did point out he has no brief to explain, still less defend, the decision-making processes of the footballing authorities, and his (oh, alright, my) reply did absolve Phil of the prejudice that the success of Newport and Wrexham has provoked.

That leaves the broader point Phil raised, of whether Wrexham's team selection for the final league game against Kidderminster undermined at the last the efforts all Conference sides put into the full 46 matches of the season. The play-offs probably tend to minimise the risks of this kind of situation by ensuring that more teams go into their last few matches with something to play for. But this time the last round of fixtures left three clubs with little to do except avoid injuries and jockey for position. So, forget it was Wrexham and imagine that some club we could have no objection to (Luton, perhaps) was in their position; should (or indeed could) the Conference have done more to ensure they played a full-strength side? Let us know what you think.

Two things

One (fact): I went to watch the Mariners play at Woking. After all the hope of the passing season I expected it to be a good game. (I can just remember George Tweedy and Tommy Briggs.) Hopeless – it took ten minutes before they could string two passes together and the look of shock horror on the face of your Wimbledon reject when he received the ball from the second-half kick-off still haunts me, but at least they won.

Two (conspiracy or cock-up): some years ago a friend, a good local league player, was able to train alongside a third-tier club team. This club suddenly hit gold and by February was in line for the then second division until the owner took the manager to one side and made it clear that he was unable or unwilling to finance a campaign in the higher division. Results in March and April were desperate and promotion hopes disappeared.

Now it wasn't this club or this owner, but the story has stuck in my mind this last few weeks. Got the cod end again (if you still say that).

from John Darnell

Letters Ed responds: I'd go with cock-up, John. If anything we over-egged our promotion attempts, disrupting the squad, rather as we did under Russell Slade.

Thanks to Rich, Rory, Phil and John, and thank you for reading. Write to Cod Almighty at postbag@codalmighty.com