Cod Almighty | Diary

When "expect the unexpected" is unavoidable

1 December 2020

Weep for your lost youth. Not for our youth - they don't know how to lose - your youth. It is now 29 years since Grimsby Town last clinched a title (1972) or promotion (1991) on the final day of the season against Exeter City. If, somewhere between Middle-Aged Diary writing this, you reading it, and 7 o'clock tonight, our scheduled game with the Grecians is postponed and goes from the top to the bottom of our fixture list, with the letters "TBD" against it, then a new generaton of fans may be able to look forward to the ultimate Mariners' rite of passage.

As the game will almost certainly be on, remember it kicks off at 7, and if you are going, take your press credentials. For the time being. The Mariners Trust have put together a guide on what to expect if Covid-infection rates fall in time to allow fans to be admitted by the time we play Scunthorpe on 19 December.

The most interesting part of Ian Holloway's pre-match pitch is the admission he may not have got all his pre-season signings exactly right, although he treats himself to a liberal helping of excuses. Otherwise, he is making the noises you'd expect him to make. But we don't know what to expect from his team. It is still a new one, with several players making the step-up from youth team or non-League football. We've had very bad days, but the good days are great.

It is 1 December, and time to think about Christmas presents. In the old days, a replica shirt was just a shirt in the colour of your team. It maybe had a badge printed on it, which faded after one wash. Memoirs are full of possibly apocryphal stories of children longing for the red shirt of Manchester United whose well-meaning nan instead brought red and white stripes or red with white arms instead, because "just red was boring."

So today I am fondly speculating that, come 25 December, fans in North-East Lincolnshire will open a pleasingly bulky, promising-looking gift, then mouth "Oh" and fake pleasure as they stare at the title Adolescence, adulthood and old age (Aspects of psychology) while their aunt asks "You did want a book by Rob McIlveen didn't you?"

The same Rob McIlveen, but the more likely choice for the Town fan in your life will be either his 1979-80 champions!, or First champions, also available from the Mariners Trust and now ready to pre-order. It is the story of the 1900-01 season when Town won promotion to the top flight for the first time in our history. I've been lucky enough to see drafts of a few chapters and can promise it is a wonderful read with the excitement of the games themselves illustrated by some delightful period detail. It is a small print run, so get your order in quick.

Grimsby Town also feature in Because it's Saturday: a journey into football's heartlands by Gavin Bell. We've an excerpt from it here if you want to try before you buy. The word "heart" is the right one for Gavin's exploration of eight different clubs in eight different communities, all with love of the game in common. 

Let's hope tonight's game affirms rather than challenges that love.