Cod Almighty | Postbag
The postman is back from his extended holiday
11 November 2021
We have a whole host of feedback this week ranging from praise of our new diarists to questions about top goalscorers as well as a music suggestion. The postbag shall now return to its usual slot of Tuesday/Wednesday from nexr week so keep 'em coming!
The Cod Army fights back
Rich is, in his wonderful spotlight on Dover, perhaps a little too disrespectful of Fleetwood Town when he dismisses them as 'upstarts' and pairs them in that category with Forest Green Rovers who are undoubtedly deserving of such a label. Sloppy research might be at the root of the problem.
While the current arrangement has its beginnings in 1997, that arose from an unfortunate series of financial failures and identity crises from which the current club emerged. Yet those interruptions mask an abiding spirit reaching back to 1908.
The product of Fleetwood fishing fraternity that arrived at the Wyre port back to 1846, I followed the fortunes of the club as a teenager when they were in the Lancashire Combination and when my Uncle Sid played in goal in a great romantic home defeat at the hands of the mighty Rochdale in the first round of the FA Cup.
In 1968, the inaugural year of the Northern Premier League, I climbed over the fence to see them draw with Don Donovan's Boston United. The former Mariner and father of Terry and Keeley, had mustered a squad of Grimsby Town retirees including Matt Tees' strike partner, George McLean who led the line that day.
Some will be aware of Rich's particular prejudice against former Cod Army striker, Jamie Vardy. Perhaps that feeds into this recent snub. His dislike of Vardy is the result of an outrageously won penalty against the Mariners. Mindful of the contempt shown by Vardy to Rob Scott and the memory of Matt Tees celebrated an Oscar deserving feint at the feet of Northampton's Alan Fettis, I am inclined to forgive that particular crime.
I hope Rich will be equally forgiving of me for putting him right on a thing or two here.
from Gordon Wilson
Take me back to the 80s
Tuesday 5th's diary opened up with 'Well hello there.....'.
The moment I saw the words, it was the 1980s and 10pm on a Friday for me. There is only one Tommy Vance, music vendor - Well hello there...indeed. Here's the new one from Little Angles
Anyway, Dixie Dreggs, Take It Off The Top Rock n Roll
from Ian Jackson
Where's our pen?
The young fella who wrote today's diary, essentially based around Harry Clifton, seems to hit the spot nicely. Sign him up!
from Andy Tremayne
Letters Ed responds: Thanks for the feedback, Andy.
Derby Diary takes the accolades
Congratualations to Derby Diary. A well written and informative piece. I first watched the Mariners in 1948 so have some experience. Harry Betmead, George Tweedy and Ginger Johnstone are no strangers to me. UTM.
from Michael Peart
Letters Ed responds: Thanks for the feedback, Michael
They're on the ball
Last one is the best (about Clifton). He/she's got the right balance of formal/informal language and knows how to structure an article. Very readable.
from Phil Ball
Letters Ed responds: Thank you, Phil, eta aúpa Santutxu!!
Anyone ever got 50?
Have any Grimsby players scored 50 or more league goals in a season?
Thanks
from Jack
Letters Ed responds: I am not sure Jack but I am sure someone out there will.
The name game
Golden Groves - Mr Paul Groves
Captain Sensible - Craig Disley
Tireless - Lee Nogan
The Corby Trouser Press - Stuart Campbell
The Golden Dude - David Nielsen
To name five you've missed out. There's more you know.
How about some opponents, to start you off:
Old Man Diver - Steve Claridge
from Tony Butcher
Unbeaten runs
On Monday, Miss Guest Diary wondered about unbeaten runs in the lower leagues and I thought I'd try to be the statto to help out. Last time I tried this was in 2013, so expect more interesting stats in about 8 years.
So far the best data I've managed to uncover (for free) has non league results (with dates attached) from 1999 to the 2018-19 season. So, there's a lot of data, and I can't be 100% on it's accuracy, but...
The longest streak I've identified is Burgess Hill Town who played 36 games in the 2014-15 season of the Isthmian South Division (tier 8) before suffering a defeat, 1-0 at home to the mighty Whyteleafe F.C. They would lose only twice more that season and go on to win the league with 109 points, 11 points clear of their nearest rivals. For the purists among you, they finished the previous season on an unbeaten run of three. So, 39 games unbeaten in the league.
Is that too low of a league? Cursory analysis suggests a few non-league unbeaten runs of over 30, but the data is a bit messy and some dates are wrong. So I'll need to take a deeper look before I make any claims about their veracity.
from Joe Mooney
Letters Ed responds: Some good data spadework there, Joe. Has anyone else done some research into this? Get in touch if you have
Do you have any names to add to Tony's list? Are Fleetwood better than upstarts? Has a Town player ever scored more than 50 (fifty) goals in a season? Are you a scholar of non-league unbeaten runs? Tell us - right here.