Cod Almighty | Diary

The past is another country

4 August 2014

Miss Guest Diary writes: Another weekend, another pre-season friendly – this one, against Gainsborough Trinity, also doubling as the semi-final of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup. On paper, it looks like an easy win for Town but the reality was a little different. Another first half of odd formations which left Town looking hesitant and vulnerable at times, with the performance improving after a second-half switch to 4-4-2.

But what most surprised me was that it took until well into the second half for my companion, Cod Almighty's match reporter Tony Butcher, to realise that the grey-haired old pro in Gainsborough's midfield was someone who, during the last decade, had made 90 appearances for Town in three years: none other than Ciaran Toner.

A few years ago it would have been unthinkable for a statto like Mr Butcher not to know the current club of every ex-Town player. With the revolving door policy seemingly adopted by the club in recent years, that is no longer possible.

When I began watching Town in the 90s it seemed as if the squad was pretty much fixed from year to year with only the occasional arrival and departure. Was this true or just a rose-coloured vision of the past? To check it out I did some research, taking as my examples the Football League Trophy winning team of 1998 and the FA Trophy losing team of 2013.

Of the 14 players used in 1998 only two of them were relative fly-by-nights, spending only two years apiece at Town: Nogan and Davison. The playing time of the others was: Donovan, Burnett, Smith (4 years), Black (5 years), Gallimore, Clare (6 years), Handyside (9 years), Livingstone, Jobling (10 years), Groves (11 years), Lever (12 years) and McDermott (20 years). Which adds up to an amazing 105 years of playing for Town.

Looking at those who played a mere 18 months ago, only six of them are still at Town: McKeown, Pearson, Disley, Thomas, Hannah and John-Lewis, and they have racked up a mere 14 years so far.

So is the lack of a settled squad simply a fact of life in non-League football where short contracts and loans seem to be the norm, or is Town's failure to build a settled squad the reason we continue to be stuck in non-League? Discuss.

Moving on to Town's final pre-season fixture tomorrow at Brigg, I see the club is hoping to have "a new addition" to the squad. No doubt to be announced 10 minutes after this diary goes live. But the vital question for me is not 'who is it?' but 'will he still be here next year?'

I was hoping to read a report in the paper or on the net about yesterday's open day at Blundell Park organised by the Mariners Trust but, at the time of writing, all I have seen is some photos on Twitter of happy smiling children and players. As that's where I get most of my news these days anyway, I'll take that to mean the day was a roaring success.

Talking of Twitter, someone posted a link last week to a blog about football chants. It isn't about Town – but it could be, and I wholly endorse the sentiments expressed.