Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 13 June 2013

13 June 2013

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But there isn't time to listen to them all. So how do you decide quickly whether to open or close your ears when a fellow Town fan starts rattling on about our club?

Your original/regular Diary applies a number of criteria to filter out the noise. First, I'll switch off if people start using terminology like 'naive' or 'not enough quality'. If someone lacks the sense to choose words of their own, and just copies pundit-speak instead, then they probably lack the sense to formulate a worthwhile opinion as well. Second, I refuse to take seriously anyone who believes Bastard Franchise Scum FC to be a legitimate football club. Well, come on. You can't say fairer than that.

Third, and perhaps most importantly of all, don't bother talking to me if you habitually misapply the nickname 'Macca'. There is only one Macca. He was born in Middlesbrough in 1969 and made 754 appearances for Grimsby Town between 1986 and 2007. James McKeown may be the finest young goalkeeping prospect to wash up in Cleethorpes for many a year, but he is not, and will never be, Macca.

The content of today's Diary demonstrates the importance of maintaining a distinction between these two worthy footballers. Sir John 'Macca' McDermott, it has been announced, will publish an autobiography later this year. A Twitter account, @Macca754, has seemingly been set up in His name to promote the book. I don't think it's actually Macca tweeting because it's suspiciously literate for a footballer, but you never know. Again, the design of the Macca tome – entitled It's Not All Black and White– looks rubbish, but hey, don't judge a book by its cover.

James 'Not Macca' McKeown, meanwhile, is the subject of one of those non-news stories that the Grimsby Telegraph uses to fill its column kilobytes when there isn't any actual news to report. No, I can't actually be arsed to link to it. Thinking about it, I sort of wish McKeown was publishing an autobiography as well because I want to know about his time – only two years ago – with RKSV Leonidas in the semi-professional leagues of the Netherlands. Failing that, maybe when the next non-news day comes around, the Telegraph could ask him for us.

In other non-news today, season ticket sales at Blundell Park have "smashed" the £50,000 barrier. Not merely passed, you understand; still less crawled through. Smashed. And "still just ahead of last year", adds Town's newly superb new official website. If the apparent year-on-year trend on ST sales continues alongside the Mariners' year-on-year decline in footballing stature since 2003, then in another ten years our debut in the Mad Harry's East Marsh Premier League Division Two (South) will be watched by a crowd of around 64,000.