There is something uniquely powerful about football – a fact brought home to me when my mother died this summerI read Marc Stears’ book, Out of the Ordinary, this summer and recognised much of what he said in my own experience. The thrust of his argument is that our politics has become intellectually abstracted from how most people live and derive meaning in their lives. We have lost sight of the “everyday”, the joy that it offers in connection and community.I moved away from Grimsby at 18 and built an itinerant life, studying and living abroad. I eventually settled to work and build a family in London until my children started to develop “cock-er-ney” accents and I had to get...
Roberto De Zerbi has made such an impact that Brighton were never likely to lose but Grimsby deserve their admirers tooAt times during this relentlessly entertaining FA Cup quarter-final it was hard to avoid the feeling that the ambient levels of wholesomeness inside the Amex Stadium might just be reaching a potentially dangerous high, the counters starting to fizz and burp.This was an occasion so wholesome even the half-time entertainment was a deeply moving presentation from the life-saving stadium medical team, followed by a mascot race, a kids’ race and then a succession of Mother’s Day announcements so heartfelt you half-expected the match officials to come running out for the second half holding a cake and flowers. Continue reading...
Unrealistic expectations breed anger on terraces, at Grimsby we try to build relationships through committing to give our bestOne of my father-in-law’s favourite aphorisms is “expect nothing and you’ll never be disappointed”. Although not the most positive outlook on life, there is a kernel of truth in his wisdom.Mo Gawdat, in his book Solve for Happy, discusses why people are happy or unhappy, content or dissatisfied, calm or frustrated in any given situation. He believes the primary factor is how we set our expectations in life, driven partly by the illusion of control against a backdrop of a universe whose natural state is “entropy and chaos”. He states that “happiness is equal or greater than the perception of the events...
Identities and values are intrinsic to football support, and we want to set standards that can benefit our fans and communityThere are several reasons to choose a football team to support but more often than not your club chooses you. Proximity to where you are born, live or a family inheritance are the most likely reasons to bind you to club colours. For those too young to know better, success can be alluring. As a nine-year-old, I flirted briefly with supporting Nottingham Forest, at a time when they won back‑to‑back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, but it was like a holiday romance that faded quickly through a lack of real-world contact.For international fans, I can understand it can be...
Matches are a place of shared experience in an atomised world – they should have gone ahead following the Queen’s deathLike most people, I was deeply saddened by the news about Queen Elizabeth. Events over the past few days have demonstrated how important the royal family is to our sense of identity as a nation. Even the most committed republican can share the sense of loss of such a symbol of humility and grace at the centre of our nation, someone who, as the BBC has repeatedly and correctly said, represented stability in an age of ceaseless change.Three days after the death of King George VI on 6 February 1952, Grimsby Town beat Carlisle 4-1 in front of 16,000 fans....