Cod Almighty | Diary
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea
1 May 2017
Irregular Diary writes: So it's the calm after the Barnet storm, which some would consider the perfect storm. Who would have thought that when Barnet's 'banned inflatables' statement was released this time last week, we'd have witnessed what we did on Saturday? In fact, even when Trev Hewson tweeted a poll about a band, who thought it was at all serious? I voted yes, by the way, and off to bed I went. Woke up the next morning and there was a crowdfunder set up to pay for one. Think it sort of became real round about then, along with "How the hell will Barnet let a band in when they won't have inflatables?"
As I'm sure Trev will agree, Wednesday to Friday became a blur of phone calls, tweets, messages and media appearances. After a bit of persuading, the band was allowed in; the plan changed slightly but fair play to Barnet and their safety officer for allowing and then working hard to facilitate them. Some will say it's down to them that we even had a band in the first place, and while I kind of agree, that didn't mean they had to let a four-piece band in where other clubs had been refused drums previously.
As it was, they did us a huge favour. How fantastic was the band? Videos have gone viral: the 25 seconds of footage I put on Twitter have been shared and viewed nearly 50,000 times. By and large people behaved, made use of the excellent facilities (which we were among the first visitors to use), and above all enjoyed themselves. In every picture and video I've seen, fans on both sides had a smile. Even the ball boys left with a sombrero souvenir.
The lasting thing – and the one most people should focus on – is that as it stands over £800 has been raised for our disabled supporters' club. They are completely self-funded, with fundraising done internally. Most of the organisation is left to Daphne. We all know Daphne. She's been doing it years. However, she's not been well in parts this season, and for me this money means she doesn't have to spend her summer worrying about how they are going to fund the first few games. We need to look after our own, and we always have, and this includes this group of supporters that travel sometimes in huge discomfort to sit and watch the Mighty Mariners.
There have been situations this season where these guys have travelled for three hours, gone to their designated viewing place and barely been able to see any of the game because people have been stood in front of them without a thought – likely unintentionally, but it has happened. I'm all for being vocal – I am myself, and yes, we go away and stand when maybe we shouldn't – and I don't have a problem with that. All I am asking is that for next season we make sure the guys that we've raised money for get to see the matches the money has gone to.
Ah, almost forgot! There was a match on Saturday, pretty dour affair, with Barnet looking far livelier than us, which is a shame. I'd hoped that we would take some of the performance against Yeovil but alas we didn't. This Saturday a late kick-off sees Plymouth Argyle visit, who will be backed by a vocal and large following hoping to see their team crowned champions. Hopefully we make a better job of spoiling the party than we did against the other two title contenders in Donny and Pompey.
Final thing: don't forget inflatables in the Pontoon for the game and kids for a quid in there too. Let's see if we can finish the season with an atmosphere we are so synonymous with away from home.
UTM