Cod Almighty | Diary

All Town Aren't We

22 June 2026

Miss Guest Diary writes: When you care about something passionately – as we all do about Town – it is easy to lose perspective, as I confess I did on Friday on hearing the news that Jackson Smith has signed for Port Vale and not, as we'd all hoped, for us. For a moment I felt completely betrayed: he loved playing for us, didn't he; Artell is recognized as a great players' coach; we've obviously been in talks with him about signing. How could he go somewhere else? Who else could Town sign who would be as good? Is next season doomed from the start?

Then I awoke yesterday morning to the shocking news that Town's head of player recruitment, Alex Hughes, had died suddenly at the age of 38. Perspective was immediately restored.

How often do we hear it said that a game lost or a late goal conceded is "heartbreaking"? How many times have we heard it already in the current World Cup? Losing or conceding is not heartbreaking – it's annoying, frustrating, maybe even slightly depressing. What is heartbreaking is losing a father, a son, a partner or a brother who was in the prime of their life. The condolences of everyone at Cod Almighty go out to Alex's family, friends and colleagues.

OAM AAM