Cod Almighty | Diary

Never forgive, never forget

4 September 2019

Miss Guest Diary writes: It was pleasing to see Michael Jolley abiding by the spirit of the B-Team Trophy and fielding a team of youths and squad players in last night's game against Scunthorpe. That the opposition included quite a few first-teamers hopefully says more about their need for a morale-boosting win than about their footballing ethics.

And it was wonderful to see the team captained by the 17-year-old Mattie Pollock – apparently the youngest player to have done so. The way he is developing, I suspect Town won’t be able to hang on to him beyond this season. But in five years' time I'll have the pleasure of cheering for him on Match of the Day, the way I've been doing with Ryan Bennett for the past few years.

I wish I could have been there to cheer Mattie on, and to see the debut of our new loan signing, but I was keeping up the boycott I've participated in since the introduction of B teams into this competition. The Internet Mariners went a step further and staged a match of their own against a team from Scunthorpe. They won 9-1 but, of course, the game was not about the result but about making a statement, and supporting local charities. Though I couldn't be there to support this enterprise in person, I have donated what I would have spent on attending Blundell Park – why don't you donate something too.

I hoped that, after the Bury debacle, all football fans would appreciate the importance of sending a message to the football league about preserving our game from the juggernaut of capitalism embodied by the Premier League. So it was disappointing to see an attendance of 1,300 at Blundell Park. Is it possible that there are still fans out there who don't 'get it'? Or maybe, for some, the prospect of getting 'bragging rights' by beating Scunthorpe trumped any ethical considerations. If so, then they got what they deserved.

That whole local rivals thing is curious. I have never really felt it, and attribute that to not being born in the area. But my other half was born and brought up in Cleethorpes and he doesn't consider either Scunthorpe or Lincoln to be Town's natural rivals. To him, they are just small clubs who happen to be geographically close to Grimsby. If pushed, he reserves the 'local rival' tag for the Sheffield clubs; he started watching Town in the late 1970s when both were regular opponents. Alas, we haven't crossed paths with either in the last 15 years and don't look like doing so in the near future.

I was pondering this whole 'bragging rights' thing and realised that there are occasions when it does feel especially important to me for Town to beat a particular team. But the reasons have nothing to do with geography and more to do with (sometimes) quite petty, personal things. In our current schedule this applies to: Cheltenham (diving cheats, Harry Pell); Stevenage (bra-gate, undrinkable hot chocolate); Forest Green (too up themselves to sell chocolate bars); and Oldham (free entry to celebrate some anniversary which led to being surrounded by opposition fans on a day when Town lost 6-0).

I have nothing against Town's next opponents Crewe. Except not winning at their ground since 1990 – but that's really Town's fault, not theirs, and I have solved that by not going to Gresty Road the last couple of years. Of course, I really, really want Town to win on Saturday, but if they don't I'll grin and bear. It certainly won't feel like the slap in the face our regular capitulations to Stevenage invoke. UTM.