Cod Almighty | Diary

I must go... I've got an egg on

6 July 2023

In a very short statement on the club’s official website yesterday, the Mariners announced that both league games against Bradford City this season will kick off at 1pm. No reason for this shift was given.

Your West Yorkshire Diary acknowledges the work the club has done over the past two seasons to keep as many kick-off times to 3pm as possible, when authorities have pushed for change. I appreciate the club won’t be successful in every negotiation, but if my memory serves me correctly, didn’t we keep our game against the Bantams to 3pm last season at Blundell Park?

Once again, football fans are just expected to adhere. We’re not owed an explanation; don’t ask any questions. The inference is clear, though, and the inability to say why the kick-off times have changed on its website and social feeds suggests the club feels rather sheepish about it. Maybe they know the words will upset the fans. But by saying nothing, it upsets us more.

It’s only a two-hour shift, mind, so what does it matter? Well, if two hours is negligible, why change it at all? If fans really set out to cause trouble, I hardly think a two-hour shift is going to assuage their craving for some alcohol-fuelled pre-match fisty-cuffs — which, let me add, has been notable by its absence for many, many years.

Town enjoyed their little run-out on Tuesday night against Grimsby Borough. The flurry of new signings are settling in, and Hurst is smiling. Now there’s the face of a man who’s getting exactly what he wants.

Season ticket sales remain strong. It’s a bittersweet subject for me, really. The more we sell, the more difficult it becomes for exiles like me to get match tickets together with a few friends. Ultimately, though, I want the team and the club to prosper, and if that means not sitting together at home matches, and missing out on the popular away matches altogether, then so be it. To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day when these circumstances would exist.

After a bit of a delay, the new kits have been released. Credit to the club for trying something a bit different, even if I’m not a huge fan of broad stripes on the home shirt. I like the fact that the stripes exist on the back but, given the central white stripe is so wide, it’s ended up looking like an awkward panel that’s not quite wide enough to house the numbers.

The home shirt is also missing a flash of red for those of us who don't get names and numbers printed on the back, and the socks are missing a lot of red. Yeah, I’m one of those.

I often wonder how much thought goes into the colour of our away strip. I like the red, by the way, but by my count there are nine teams in the fourth division whose home strip is red — ten if you want to include the claret of Bradford — so that’ll be ten away games when Town won’t be wearing their away shirt in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, over on Twitter, the Simulated Mariners are fifth in the table heading into the busy Christmas period. Today they're playing Portsmouth at home in the FA Cup second round. Line-ups are announced at 3pm and results at 4.45pm each day. You can follow @RichMariner on Twitter to see how Town's alternative 2022-23 season plays out.

UTM!