Cod Almighty | Diary

Helplessly hoping

13 October 2025

Miss Guest Diary writes: In the past I have written about feeling sorry for people who don't follow football, how they miss out on the excitement and collective joy when your team scores a goal or wins a game, and the collective support when things go wrong. What they also miss out on – actually, that should read avoid – is having a pall cast over their weekend by something over which they have absolutely no control. Yes, we can go to the game, wear our shirt, wave our banner, sing and cheer on the team, but on an individual basis it makes not one iota of difference to happenings on the field.

Even at a collective level the most it might do is raise the players' spirits or give them some more energy. Getting behind the team cannot make that stray pass find its intended target, stop that opposition ball going in the net, reverse a shockingly poor refereeing decision or make any of our players bigger or stronger. So, as on Saturday, we are left feeling helpless and disappointed, maybe a bit angry, a bit cheated, and – at least on my part – a little envious of those people who don't 'do' football.

I should be used by now to seeing Town lose: I have never 'done the math' but I'm willing to bet that I've seen more defeats than victories in the last 35 years. After all, there have been five relegation seasons in that time, added to which in the early 90s I lived down south and mostly went to away games. Great as Alan Buckley was in that era his teams were always better at home than away. But seeing Town lose still has the power to hurt.

Then there is the mystery of why some defeats hurt me more than others. Why will I willingly travel to Swindon next month and suck it up when we inevitably lose, as we have on the last four visits, but felt outraged when we lost at Barnet last month? All the games carry the same three points, so is it some form of arrogance because the opposition doesn't have the right pedigree, or doesn't play the right way? Barnet outplayed us and deserved their win and I have to admit that, although the way Colchester scored their second goal felt unfair, they certainly deserved the win on Saturday more than Town did.

To take my mind off it all I have been looking at who I'd like Town to get in the first round of the FA Cup, the draw for which takes place this evening. My thoughts are: an away game at somewhere I've not been before, not too far away and reasonably winnable. I've settled on Buxton away as the ideal draw. Failing that, Gainsborough Trinity if they manage to beat Hartlepool in tomorrow's replay: it's only 20 miles up the road from me and they do great sausage and chips.

UTM