Cod Almighty | Diary

Grimsby Town Football Club. A meditation

2 June 2026

What's in a name?

Grimsby, a far from ordinary northern town, if there is such a thing at all. A place where everyone is in it together, whether their luck is in or out. Newbegin Diary is a third-generation exile but I learnt the same spirit in South Wales in the last years of coal mining. If someone offered you a pint you knew you'd not be able to return, all qualms about charity were swept away in comradeship: "If you had money and I didn't, you'd buy me a drink, wouldn't you?"

Town, because it is ours, all ours and for all of us. When the Mariners do well, everyone celebrates.

Football, a game almost unique in its simplicity. You can play it with three mates on the rec or you can watch multi-millionaires make moves planned out to the inch. Its simplicity makes for variety. Not all Town teams are alike, but the good ones are marked always by collective endeavour.

Club. Not company, not corporation, but club. We club together to bring what we can, and the result is something far richer than if we passively pay our admission and wait to be entertained.

The appeal to fund a wheelchair viewing area between the Osmond and the Ramsden's stand has hit little more than a third of its £36,000 target. We raised more in a matter of days for Operation Promotion. We knew that if we were to enjoy any kind of success we'd have to chip in, for we could hardly rely on Fenty.

With new owners it all seems less pressing. Perhaps we think they'll take care of it for us, but even in our best days, the Mariners relied on volunteers and on fundraising. The Osmond is named after a councillor who organised an annual Black and White Ball (I'm no dancer, but if someone revived that I'd be tempted.) The Pontoon was paid for by the supporters club.

So if you've money left over that you'd have spent on Town at Wembley, please put it into the wheelchair fund. For £20 you can have a brick with your name on it put in the new structure. Grimsby Town Football Club is part of you, and you are part of Grimsby Town. Why not get it in writing?