Cod Almighty | Diary
Beware: contains traces of positivity
24 September 2013
Pride of place today to the Mariners Memories Game, an initiative under the Sporting Memories Network, "raising awareness of dementia and celebrating the history and heritage" of Grimsby Town. On this occasion, your Middle-Aged Diary will freely admit to some extensive cutting and pasting in an excellent cause. Lee Stephens of Grimsby Town's Sport and Education Trust is asking former players, fans and club staff to share their favourite memories of the Mariners ahead of Town's fixture with Welling on 9 November.
As Cod Almighty has written before (for example in our collection of memories of Joe Waters), a lot of what is most valuable about a club is passed on orally. Capturing and sharing that history is not just an essential but also a deeply rewarding mission. You can read anywhere the facts of Town's slump in the late 60s and the revival under Lawrie McMenemy. Dave Boylen's opening contribution to the Mariners Memories Game, though, provides a slice of the inside story, the colour, the things that will be lost if no-one takes the time to listen, to record, to remember, to share, and to share again.
Dwelling on one's heritage in the wrong way can be dangerous. Tonight, Grimsby entertain Dartford and it is tempting, comparing our relative pedigrees, league positions and budgets to treat it as a game we 'should' be winning. It happens that six of the ten matches each club has played this season were against the same opponents, home and away on the same occasions.
The head-to-head comparison, unfortunately, favours Grimsby. Both clubs have beaten Alfreton, drawn 0-0 at Chester, and lost at Halifax and at home to Nuneaton. However, the Mariners took a point at Luton and where Dartford lost 2-0 at home to Braintree, we scraped a 1-0 win. 'Unfortunately' because the sense of a game we 'should' be winning is often a harbinger for the Mariners – players and supporters – to be at their worst.
Last season, in the corresponding fixture, just a couple of weeks later in the year, we lost 2-0. We got our revenge later, but the 3-0 winning margin in the FA Trophy flattered us and we needed two late goals to get three points last April.
Football is much more fun if you manage your expectations. If you are going tonight, enjoy the game, but don't get frustrated if you don't start enjoying it in the first 15 minutes. Dwell by all means on Dave Boylen, Joe Waters and Kevin Moore, but remember they aren't actually playing tonight. One day, maybe, we, or our children, will remember Andi Thanoj, Shaun Pearson, or Ross Hannah with a measure of the same affection.