Cod Almighty | Diary

The only stranger is the truth to opportunists

13 May 2025

If you think football is a politics-free zone, then frankly you haven't been paying attention. If you want to remain in blissful ignorance, stop reading.

We have enjoyed more substantial delights, but few as thrilling as the revelation of Ivano Bonetti. There are many myths about the few months he was with us, but that was part of the point: he brought romance. Having just read his Wikipedia page, Newbegin Diary won't dwell on David Nielsen, AKA the "Golden Dude", but I still recall the frisson of excitement when he first arrived at Blundell Park.

Our then manager, Lennie Lawrence, brought a fair few duds in his wake, but then other managers have recruited more than our share of home-grown ones: a duffer is a duffer wherever they were born. At the time, I rather resented the late Xhang Enhua for keeping Peter Handyside out of the team. But that was Lawrence's fault, not his own: what I remember now is the smile of a man who by playing in Britain was living a dream.

Bonetti, Nielsen, Enhua, Fostervold, Willems: none of them stayed long. Moving on a couple of decades, there's no arguments from me that George MacEachran was our player of the season but the one I most enjoyed watching was Jason  Svanthórsson, with his tigerish mix of enthusiasm and determination, his willingness to test his skill to the utmost. And the classiest cameo came from Géza Turi. How wonderful if they were to settle in Grimsby for the long-haul, to take their place alongside Groves and Disley, Ford and Gilbert, in our list of legends.

What chance of them staying, what chance of them feeling welcome, after yesterday's shameful display by the Prime Minister? For a Labour politician, the knowledge should be ingrained in their bones: multiculturalism needs investment, in and by public services, by employers, by all of us. Do it right and it doesn't just improve our lives, it is essential to them. The Mariners, the first English club to try to employ an overseas coach, know this better than most.

Do multiculturalism on the cheap, however, and it will breed resentment. The government is giving licence to the prejudices which last summer led to riots, to attempts to set on fire hotels housing asylum seekers. They were quelled by solidarity from people of all faiths and of none, by people prepared to make a stand for decency. We all have skin in this game. Let's be ready.