Cod Almighty | Diary
FA Cup Quarter Finalists, Grimsby Town
8 March 2023
Another Hursty Masterclass, mmm, isn’t it? Last night's 1-1 draw with Town players treating the ball like they were playing pass-the-parcel in a 1980s Belfast pub, scuppered two Seagulls with the one stone. It was good practice for the Brighton game when our boys won't see the ball for 90 minutes; and the opposition scouts will hopefully be lulled into filing a report that simply says "Book Wembley Premier Inn ASAP".
Yet despite this obvious tactic, there are discontented Town voices. Being FA Cup Quarter Finalists is in some ways a test. The Footballing Gods are looking down from their early 1980s Blundell Park corner terrace with great puzzlement. They are truly fascinated by GTFC fans. Having last season bestowed onto them the Greatest Three Game Sequence In The History of Football, the grumbles before and after bewilder the Gods. The FA Cup run might be our last chance to benefit from their favour. Come across as a bunch of ungrateful, miserable wankers and the Gods may decide to hop it to that nice old cantilever stand at the Old Showground.
What triggered the latest bout of Grimsby-tit-itis? The tickets, Jeff, it's a disgrace.
It might be news to fans of a club who haven't had a game like this in 84 years, but ticketing is always a shitshow. At every club's big game, at every in-demand boyband gig. There is no way to fairly distribute when demand is greater than supply. Look up Newcastle UAE's visit to Wembley the other week and I'll bet you find a fan who missed out even though he sat on Tony Blair's lap in the Gallowgate End during the 1930s watching Jackie Milburn and Kevin Keegan swap haircare tips.
These Brighton tickets are no exception. The option to have people queue after the game is far from ideal but with work, and a lousy weather forecast, neither was taking them back to Blundell Park this morning to queue then.
Regardless, some proper nasty stuff has popped up on the Fishy, Facebook and Twitter. Some people will never be happy. Whether that is by choice or disposition, I'll leave that to you. The Trust has taken flak but the lightning rod for most of the bile has been Debbie Cook. Now, isn't it remarkable that during 20 years of shite up to 2021, people barely knew the name of the male chief executive, let alone criticised him.
Daubney doesn't know Debbie Cook and hadn't heard of her before she was hired by Jason Stockwood and Andrew Petit. We can only go on what we see from a distance, which is basically sod all. But let's work with what facts we have. Town were a mess. If ever any owner or CEO received a hospital pass, it was GTFC plc in 2021. Anyone who thinks a magic wand for an instant fix is available can't be living in a country where everything seems to be broken: the trains, the mail, and Aunt Betty can't even get her greens at the co-op.
So yesterday when the ticketing plans were announced, the nasty little men who get threatened by women in positions of power shrugged off the historic glow of the FA Cup Quarter Final and revved up. Cook never stood a chance. Remember this is a woman who when sleeping overnight in a carpark in aid of Harbour Place was criticised for "not sleeping rough enough". I kid you fucking not.
The little brain trust reckoned yesterday's decision to sell the tickets after the game ranged from cock-up to, rather absurdly, photo-op. When Cook was spotted leaving before the last person in the queue was served, she was criticised for not going up and down the line like Bob Monkhouse entertaining the troops. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, it would nearly be funny if it wasn't so tragically nasty.
Debbie Cook doesn't need Cod Almighty or anyone else to stand up for her. She wouldn't be in the position she is if she did. Things are not going to be perfect, and mistakes will get made. Taking responsibility for them is part of any senior role outside of government. However if you and your petty grudges are waiting in the grass looking to take cheap potshots, you need to cop yourself on. It's not just the Gods looking on and shaking their heads.
Let's not let bitterness have the last word. The people in the queue seemed happy and the online system held up well. Yes, the game was poor last night. It might be on Saturday as well. But whatever happens for the next eleven days, we can say "FA Cup Quarter Finalists, Grimsby Town". Isn't it bloody marvellous. UTM.