Cod Almighty | Diary

What goes down can come up

6 October 2025

Miss Guest Diary writes: At a minute to 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon I received a message from one of my fellow residents at CA Towers. It said simply: we're going up. My first thought was "He's probably right this time" and my second thought, which shows just how much I've adopted the Grimsby mindset, was "At least that would mean if we got relegated next season we'd still be in the Football League." Later I saw someone on Twitter comment that Town had never been in the third tier of English football during his lifetime. This got me wondering about who we shared that division with 21 years ago, and what had happened to them since.

Though it does contravene CA policy, for the sake of any stray young people who might stumble across this diary, I will use the current naming conventions for the domestic leagues. So here goes.

Firstly, it is sad to note that one of our opponents from that season no longer exists, namely Rushden & Diamonds. Formed in 1992 after the merger of two clubs, they rose fairly rapidly through the non-league pyramid and eventually reached the football league in 2001 and the third tier in 2003. They lasted only one year at that level, before sinking back to non-league through successive relegations, then financial struggles saw the club go into administration and out of existence in 2011.

At the other extreme, three of that season's opponents are now in the Premier League: Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford. All three have had financial struggles this century, with Brighton spending over 10 years effectively homeless, Brentford narrowly avoiding administration in 2002 and Bournemouth going into administration and being deducted 10 points which almost caused their relegation to non-league in 2009. For all Fenty's poor leadership, Town have never faced administration or the prospect of losing the ground, so how come those clubs are all now established Premier League teams while Town still languish in League Two? I'll let you crunch the data.

The other teams we played in the 2003-04 season are now a mixed bag. Three in the Championship, nine in League One and six in League two. Only one – Hartlepool – is currently in non-league, but half a dozen of the others have, like us, been there and escaped – though Town are the only ones to make the great escape twice. Three of the escapees are currently in League Two with us: Chesterfield, Notts County and Oldham; two are in League One: Stockport and Luton; and Wrexham have made it to the Championship on the back of their Hollywood adventure.

The saddest journey – even sadder than Town's own in my view – must have been for the Luton fans. Another club who were the victims of financial shenanigans by the owners which resulted in relegation into non-league in 2009 after a 30-point deduction. It took them five seasons to get out of the Conference after which they climbed steadily to reach the dreamland of the Premier League in 2023. Alas they were relegated at the end of that season, and again last year. Now, with them currently mid-table in League One and Town looking good for promotion, we may get to visit Kenilworth Road again next season. Always a decent away day – apart from the shockingly poor legroom in the seats behind the goal, of course.

Like a trip on a tandem, football works on very long cycles. We’ll get there in the end.