Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 29 October 2012

29 October 2012

Miss Guest Diary writes: When I mused last week that, having failed to secure some regional grant funding, the club might end up with a stadium similar to Telford's, I was being a little facetious. But Mr Dannatt at the Grimsby Telegraph was, apparently, impressed with New Bucks Head, and is praising the concourse, the TVs, the toilets and the ample parking. No mention of having to stand on a shallow concrete step to watch the game or the 30-minute queue to get out of the car park - presumably because he watched from the comfort of the press box and parked in the directors' car park. Even with the constant reminders from fellow diarists of the Mr Magoo-like tendencies of Mr Fenty, I think he would do better for Town than a 6,000 capacity stadium with only one proper stand built into the side of an anonymous hotel.

But there is still no certainty about the location of any new development. The ever-resourceful Mr Haddock has stepped up the anti-stadium campaign by unearthing an Iron Age village on the site of the allotments. Not literally, of course. That was done in the 1980s by archaeologists and led to the building of some replica huts on the site, which were vandalised and burnt down in 1989. Maybe if the new stadium is eventually built there, the club can recreate the effect with some Iron Age-style refreshment kiosks.

As reported by your original diarist last week, Saturday's match was designated by the club as an anti-racism game. I arrived too late to see the players warming up, so I have no idea whether all, or indeed any, of them were wearing Kick It Out t-shirts. I saw no other indications in the ground to mark it out from a normal Saturday. Maybe Town should take a leaf out of Sheffield United's book and have a local poet read out an anti-racist poem before the next home game. I'm sure Cod Almighty's own resident poet could do justice to the occasion - and I'd certainly turn up early to witness it.

But what of the actual encounter with Macclesfield on Saturday? Well, you can read about it for yourself as Tony Butcher has got over last week's fit of CBA. On a slightly more fortunate day Town would have won the game. When leaving the ground I felt momentarily cheated, but the feeling had passed by the time I reached the car - an indication that I am currently able to exercise a Zen-like state of acceptance of Town's fortunes. Whether this state will hold if Town are in the same league position next April is something I hope I have the chance to find out.