Cod Almighty | Diary

Great, smashing, super

22 December 2021

This a rum do.

Town games are off until the New Year. If you're like Daubney, the football is a key reference point for which day it is over Christmas. What can you do at this stage other than wearily shake your head and send best wishes to the players and staff affected. It's either that or a revolution and who can be arsed to organise one of those nowadays, not to mention the train fare to London is a bit of a show-stopper. 

Health apart, postponements are bad news for the local businesses who have done much to improve matchday this season. Being in the ground for the Findus Corrugated Roof v Storm Barra fixture highlighted this. With Barra's strong performance securing an away win and the football called off, fanzone and other outlets were left to give away food. So props to the Slipway guys who refused to take money as they gave away their magnificent scotch eggs. Losing more games won't help their budget, so here's to a better new year and some football we can watch.

The same could be wished by three Oldham fans who've been banned from attending their club's fixtures. Athletic, 91st in the league and towering over plucky bottom club Scunthorpe on goal difference, are no doubt a model club in the eyes of some Town fans: If a manager loses a few games, you act. No messing about. Anything else is unacceptable and reveals a lack of football acumen. The high-flying Latics have had ten managers since 2018 and have banned the three moaners who were presumbly unhappy that more managers weren't sacked in this period. Twenty would surely have had them in the Premier League.  

What can we do to lift the gloom and occupy some diary space? Well, the darts is on the TV and "non-Covidy". The chants in the Ally Pally crowd even sound like the football. We'll move quickly past the mention of Covid and darts in a GTFC fanzine to declare that Daubney's house has got the bug (no, the darts bug) since a board arrived as a recent birthday present. Now in our house we like to mix up the children's bedtime stories. From time to time we give Joe Waters and John Cockerill the night off and tell tales of the faraway land of the 1980s when Grimsby had some of the best snooker players in the world.

During last night's telling, the question was asked "have there been any great GY darts players". Well, do you know what, apart from pub league stalwart Basque Diary and that nice couple who got to the second round on Bullseye in 1983, we couldn't recall one. So we're opening it up to you lot, who are the top throwers from NE Lincs down the years?

This is important stuff, even if you don't like the darts, it will be a better watch than Class of 92. Thanks to Matty Lond on Twitter for the head's up: tonight's episode features the Town game when we were robbed by starstruck twit ref, Declan Bourne. Explains a lot and makes you appreciate the irony of (and then want to throttle) people who say "You support Grimsby? Lower league football's cool, I've been following Salford's progress on the telly".

With those seasonal throttling thoughts I bid you Happy Christmas and good day.