Cod Almighty | Diary

Poor sods conducting polls

10 May 2023

What are you doing here? The ball has finally gone out of play, the ref's waved Dave Moore on to get you treated and he's said you need to come off for a couple of weeks. The toll of a rollercoaster few years padding our relegation and promotion stats with a bad bout of cup fever thrown in. Do the garden, watch the cricket, start a revolution, while Town have their first proper breather since 2021.

As you trot off milking the acclaim from all four stands, we'll tie up loose ends by linking you to the Retained List. Although having looked, as Half Man Half Biscuit pondered on their Bus Replacement Service, Daubney's thinking it should perhaps be called the Released List.

Thank you and farewell to players who won't have a statue outside the redeveloped Blundell Park, but some of whom are now part of Town folklore forever. And that's a mighty long time. Ryan Taylor and Jordan Cropper in particular were key in giving a new generation of fans their 1972/1980/1991/1998/2016 (delete as applicable) moment, and making the rest of us believe in magic all over again.

That magic explains why both playing for and supporting GTFC can be so special. Bigger titles will be won this season by better players who will be quickly forgotten. Not the names Taylor and Cropper. They'll be part of every story told about 2022 for as long as the old bag of wind is kicked about the fields of NE Lincs and for that we thank you guys.

Sad news of another ex-Mariner came yesterday with the passing of Neil Matthews at the young age of fifty-six. Neil was a Humberston lad who forged a successful career beyond Blundell Park after finding first team chances limited by established strikers such as Gary Lund and Gordon Hobson. All in all he scored 65 goals in 236 league games, predominantly at Stockport and Halifax. Our thoughts to Neil and his family.

Alright, we'll leave it at that. Remember to take Dave's advice. We'll keep you abreast of anything you need to know, filtering out all rumours from social media, a world where people who you've never met, suggest signings they've never seen play, spending money that isn't theirs. To distract you we'll have some more Only Connect Walls and, as Town undertake a tart-up of the Main Stand, we will endeavour this close season to change something nearly as old: our landing page gag.