Cod Almighty | Diary

You've got no history... or morality

12 November 2018

Trentside Diary writes: It's the romance of the cup. The FA Cup. The best national cup competition in the world they would have us believe. There's always one miracle – the BBC and ITV suddenly remember there are clubs in the lower leagues. There's talk of minnows and David and Goliath and the TV pundits usually like to find a club to latch on to, playing on a little local ground. The second round draw is at 7pm this evening, broadcast from the home of Hampton & Richmond Borough. But let's talk about Town – because if you're reading this you will already know we're in that draw.

Thank you to West Yorkshire Diary for the stats. As a Football League club, the last time we scored in the first round was ten years ago and the last time we won was 2003-04. But on Saturday we did it. Totally against script this season, we played better in the second half. We came back from one-nil down and scored. And scored again. And again. Our team found their shooting boots and three very well-taken goals they were too. I particularly liked the second because Thomas showed a sharpness in the box that has been lacking from our team this season. We've only scored 11 in 17 matches in the league, and then we go and bag three in one match. Bloody marvellous.

To top it all we beat the Franchise Scum. How perfect is that? Always nice to beat them. Not only are they an absolute embarrassment as a club – some of their 'lifelong' fans are about as principled as the club. Look at their club website. The history section states: "MK Dons, formed in 2004 from the ashes of Wimbledon FC". Disgusting. Who created those ashes? They really have just wiped that from their past. Perhaps bringing a flag with "The Real Dons" and singing "We won the cup in '88" just smacks of a huge insecurity.

Some people obviously don't recognise that for most of us, we don't watch a bit of football on TV and choose ourselves a club that looks successful. Our football club chooses us, usually by location of birth or family loyalties. This wasn't even a move decided because Milton Keynes wanted Wimbledon FC. They planned a retail park and stadium and then touted round clubs to find someone who would be prepared to move in.

This is probably one of the greatest examples of people who just want to flash the cash and get what they want. If ever there was an argument for a fan- or member-owned model, similar to that in the Bundesliga, this is it. Many fans have the fear that an owner might consider a retail park more important than the club itself.

Anyway, I'll stop my rant and get back to Town. It's going to be a season of ups and downs but we have shown we can win playing decent football. We have a manager who is trying to change the way we play and to make us proud of the team. I want to see a change in how the club is run and nothing would please me more than seeing Fenty gone – but I always want a win and even better if we win well. Let's kick on to Crawley next week. UTM.