Cod Almighty | Diary

Don't get mad, get organised

4 June 2015

Nature abhors a vacuum, they say, but there is nothing natural about some practices so endemic that we have forgotten we have the right to question them. The sharp practitioners love a vacuum. 'Never let a crisis go to waste' is one of their favourite sayings. Middle-Aged Diary won't dwell on the examples I have in mind (9/11, the 2008 banking crash, the Arab Spring...) but you can be sure that with a vacuum now at the top of FIFA, representatives of the richest football clubs in Europe are even now manoeuvring to make sure that their snouts are still further entrenched. Those with their own agenda and access to the right levers have a head start on those with a genuine interest in analysing the issue to discover the best way forward.

That is why a counter-example is inspiring. All That and a Bag of Chips has hit several nails on the head at once about Operation Promotion, excellent in its timing and its execution. One of those nails is about Paul Hurst. Like me, you, and everyone else, he is a 'work in progress'. But that he is learning to make being a fully paid-up member of the human race a strength as a manager is evidenced by the reasons Aristote Nsiala has given for re-signing with Town for another year.

To see a grassroots organisation like the Mariners Trust being quick on its feet not to exploit but to tap into the mood of the time frankly makes me even prouder than I would have been had Town prevailed at Wembley. I still remember the letter Cod Almighty received when we were first relegated to the Conference from an Altrincham fan, telling us we would be stronger for the experience. Now, finally, we know what he meant.

Individual credit where it is due. Collectively, however, this is all of us. This is ordinary supporters engaging positively with a club that occupies a large part of our lives, bringing their personal skills and experience to bear to make that club better, to make the experience of supporting the club better. Anyone who has previously regarded fans' involvement as the last-ditch, poor-relation alternative to having a wealthy owner who treats our passion as his plaything should now be readjusting their sights.