The man who would be king has it mapped out
IHAVE never known a story dominate the news for so long as the Covid pandemic. Only rarely has it not made the front pages this past year, with Brexit, the US Presidential Election and the Black Lives Matter protests being among the few topics to take priority over Covid for a time.
Then of course there have been the Royal stories coming to the fore, such as Prince Harry’s gradual detachment from “the firm”. Those critical of how the late Princess Diana was treated mischievously claim her role was simply to provide an heir (Prince William) and a spare (Prince Harry), seemingly forgetting the fact that as long as his mother survives, Prince Charles remains first in line to the throne. Nevertheless, Prince Harry has been regarded all along as number two behind his older brother. Twentieth-century history showed how important it was to have someone in reserve. For the eldest son of the future Edward VII predeceased his father, and died without issue. So up popped the King’s second child to take over as George V in 1910. Similarly after Edward VIII had abdicated in 1936, his younger brother became George VI. That thrust his two young daughters into the limelight. For one, the present Queen, life was mapped out for her. But Princess Margaret had no such career path. Second in line when growing up, at the age of 18 she found herself pushed down the royal hierarchy once her nephew Charles was born. And really, what is the daughter of a King supposed to do?
Prince Andrew has faced the same problem. When born he immediately became “the spare”, a position he held until Princess Diana had her first child. From dreams of emulating his royal ancestors Georges V and VI, a successful military career has been followed by a lifetime of drifting, including associations with some dubious individuals. Which leads us nicely on to Prince Harry, down already to No.6 in the royal listings after the Queen. What will he do next? No doubt we’ll find out more by watching his forthcoming interview with Oprah. Mind you I won’t be a viewer, I’d rather be doing something important like washing my hair!
THE January transfer window was eventful to say the least for new Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst, who has been left with a low on confidence and truly woeful Mariners side who find themselves last in League Two.
Hurst managed to make a total of nine signings over the winter window, making three of these nine signings on deadline day on Feb 1.
The names of these signings included Joe Bunney, Joe Adams, Jake Eastwood, Sam Habergham, Rollin Menayese, Jay Matete, Idris El Mizouni, Stefan Payne and former Mariner Lennell John-Lewis.
If you’re not involved in the drama this season surrounding Grimsby Town Football Club, to cut a long story short, in the past few months, ex-Town manager Ian Holloway put together a very weak side which in the first half of this season only managed to win five league matches in total between August and Holloway’s departure on December 23.
Holloway departed the club by mutual consent, stating that the reason for his departure was “As I said recently, I intend to be fully honest with you, the supporters. Contact was made by the new owners to me on several occasions before the takeover, which I felt was inappropriate, and told them as such. This is the key factor in my decision. Why? The relationship between the incoming new owners, board and manager is so, so important. It needs to be strong for a club to succeed, and we got off on the wrong footing. Therefore, that relationship will be strained from the off, which is bad for the club.”
Whether you believe the reasoning behind Ian Holloway’s departure from the club or not, Grimsby were left without a manager and became an incredibly low on confidence side struggling to stay in the football league with a very important run of games coming up which could
EMAIL: determine Grimsby’s football league status. In the following weeks, Grimsby played Morecambe, Oldham, Cambridge, Port Vale, Southend and local rivals Scunthorpe and only managed to pick up 2 points, both being 0-0 draws. The team desperately needed fresh faces as many of the players simply weren’t good enough to play in the football league. Whether the new signings will make a meaningful impact is yet to be seen, however the fans must get behind Hurst and his players now more than ever and hope that the players and manager can pull the club out of the dire situation that they find themselves in.