Cod Almighty | Diary
Ticking all the right boxes
7 May 2015
First of all, let us get the boring stuff out the way. Today, as I'm sure everybody with a television or a letterbox will be aware, is election day. Weeks' or, in this year's case, months' worth of campaigning trying to convince you to put a big fat 2B pencil X in a certain box.
But for Mariners everywhere, the general election pales into all sorts of insignificance today. For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be season ticket holders. For those who no longer live under a DN postcode. Or for those of us who stupidly decided a career in the pub trade was the way to go, completely neglecting the fact that weekends off are almost as common as Grimsby getting to a Wembley final (check, check and… check) – today, tickets went on general sale for next Sunday's showdown with the blue side of Brizzle.
Your North-West Diary woke up this morning like a child on Christmas day in the strange anticipation of getting his weekly wage decimated by a well-known, and now well-disliked ticket selling website. In truth, I'd pay almost anything to see us get promoted back to the promised land of the Football League. But when that promotion comes with a bloody transaction fee, you can't help but grumble.
Being in the north-west, as your North-West Diary is, I'm not surrounded by an abundance of Mariners. Because of this, I'm dragging my mate down to Wembley with me next week who's a big Burnley fan. Before you ask, yes, I do mention that 6-5 to him on average once every 3.4 days. Despite this, he is still really looking forward to sitting on a bus for 11 hours to watch 90 minutes of football next weekend. I'm not sure whether he's being polite or whether watching Burnley crumble this season has sent him slightly insane, but all the extra vocal support we can muster up is appreciated.
In other news today, we have a new kit! Yes, it took me by surprise too. Usually a new kit isn't released until pre-season. But, as I'm sure most of us are aware, this is all an attempt to sell some extra merchandise. And good on them I say. It's not as if we're all paying a small fortune to watch the match in the first place, is it?
Early indications suggest that some fans think the new shirt is horrible, while others are pleasantly surprised. I for one am just happy that it's not sponsored by Jarvis and made from hessian [shudders]. It's black and white though, which for me is the only thing that really matters. I just wish I'd woken up this morning to see the official site advertising a fresh delivery of inflatable Harry Haddocks at a discounted price of £2.99 for all Wembley ticket holders. We can still dream though, eh?