Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 23 February 2012

23 February 2012

Deviant Diary is having to spend the day in That London, leaving Middle-Aged Diary with strict instructions not to be nice about that refrigeration magnate.

Ah, but the difficulty when John Fenty features in today's Telegraph, undaunted and defiant, St George preparing to face the dragon, David to face Goliath, Boudicca against the Romans. The noble cause? Armed only with a computer printout from the Boston United website, on 15 March our ex-chairman will take to a Sheffield court as part of his continuing efforts to chisel the now part-time club out of the £25,000 they are claiming for losing the services of Rob Scott and Paul Hurst.

It is, of course, a coincidence that the upturn in the Mariners' fortunes on the pitch coincided with a rare period of silence on Fenty's part. But it is impossible not to feel that his silence contributed to the feelgood factor that winning run engendered. Whatever the wrongs and rights of the several issues involved (too many to be just bad luck), there is an inevitable air of shabbiness about his dealings with the local media, managerial appointments and disappointments, the Mariners Trust, and now Boston United, which leaves a stain on the name of the club.

And so to Anthony Elding, facing a two-match ban and a £600 fine after he responded to racial abuse from Lincoln supporters with an obscene gesture at the New Year's Day derby match. Allegedly. Elding and his agent are apparently considering an appeal.

Is it worth a reminder that football is a game not only watched but also played, refereed and administered by people, with feelings and fallibilities? Lines in the sand are needed, but also allowances for things said in the heat of the moment. So any fans racially abusing Elding should have been chucked out. But assuming Elding made the gesture, he was a bit silly, and an early apology and rehearsal of the extenuating circumstances would have been suitable. The handful of Lincoln fans who, having had time to reflect, made the complaint are clearly a petty-minded bunch, though not so much as the Town fans who complained about Darlington breaching a signings ban as the club struggles to survive. Similarly, Rob Scott blowing his top with a match official is almost understandable. But to then, in the cold light of day, bring the referee's gender into the equation is not.

And for a Town fan on Twitter to liken the Football Association's treatment of the club in these two affairs to "gang rape" leads me to wonder about my assertion that football is watched by people. Some are clearly subhuman.