Relegation zone

Two teams drop out of the Football League each year and it looks increasingly likely that this year Grimsby Town will be one of them. It has accumulated fewer points than any other team in League Two, but, until last night, had been cushioned from the drop zone by two teams which started the season with the handicap of penalty points. Now one of them has motored passed us and we sit in the relegation zone for the first time. Realistically it is only disasters for Chester (or a spectacular revival in form for Grimsby) which could keep us in the League; the two teams above Chester are seven points clear of us and each has a game in hand.

I didn’t used to follow these things so closely, but we have a season ticket holder in the house with whom I’ve been to the odd match (we picked him up from outside the ground wet and resigned after last night’s match) so I follow stage by painful stage the agonies of being a Town supporter. And, I was reminded by the previous Chief Executive of the local authority a while ago, it really matters to the welfare of the local community. I posted on 14th February about a survey of the economic and social impact of Lincoln Cathedral on its local economy. As far as I know, no similar assessments have been made of having a flourishing local football team, but he was convinced that there was a quantifiable value in having one.

Meanwhile, St Aidan’s, Cleethorpes sits opposite the ground and has displayed this sign for a little while now. I remain totally squirmingly unconvinced by the utility of such posters, but the number of them punning away outside different local churches means lots of people disagree with me. However, the ‘Free Membership Available’ poster for the Golf Club opposite St Michael’s did fleetingly tempt me to consider putting up one at the church saying ‘Free Membership Available Here Too’.