Cod Almighty | Diary

Kiss the fish

18 June 2015

March 2008. Town, improving slowly under Alan Buckley's third spell in charge, are preparing for a Football League Trophy final at Wembley. Rather than line the pockets of the illegitimate football franchising operation being run from Milton Keynes, half of the Cod Almighty team opt instead to travel to the Kingsmeadow stadium in south-west London. There we will watch AFC Wimbledon in a cracking Isthmian League game against Horsham, present their supporters' trust with a cheque for their share of the money raised from CA's anti-franchise T-shirt, meet legendary former Dons manager Allen Batsford, and be treated like royalty all day.

Sure, the cheque and the anti-franchise stance helped. But the biggest ice-breaker – the starter of dozens of hugely enjoyable chats all day long, most of which ended up with us being bought yet another drink by a super-friendly Wombler – was the Harry the Haddock we'd taken along with us.

It was, of course, 20 years since Town had visited Plough Lane in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Wimbledon – still in their top-flight heyday – were, of course, defending the cup they had won with that famous win over Liverpool a few months earlier. Languishing in the fourth division, the Mariners were at the very beginning of their recovery under Alan Buckley. Seven thousand Grimbarians descended on Merton – outnumbering the home support, but more notably wielding a large number of inflatable fish.

Many of the Wimbledon fans we met at Kingsmeadow in 2008 remembered that day with some fondness, and were kind enough to smile indulgently post-match, when a by then fairly well refreshed original/regular Diary did the rounds of the supporters' club bar, inviting all and sundry to "kiss the fish" for luck as we looked ahead to Town's meeting with the dirty franchise the following day.

With trembling excitement and a nostalgic glow, then, I greet today's confirmation that Harry the Haddock is to return for a second run. With financial support from Histon Mariners and in2wrk.com – an organisation staffed by Town fan Richard Hallam – the Mariners Trust will sell 2,000 redesigned blow-up piscines and add the money raised to Paul Hurst's burgeoning transfer budget for 2015–16.

So it's great news for Operation Promotion. It's great news for Hurst, as he seeks to enhance his playing squad for the campaign ahead. It's great news for amateur marine biologists, who have long pointed out that the original design of Harry was more akin to a rainbow trout than a haddock. And most of all – after a certain extraordinary inflatable-related turn of events down in Gloucestershire a few months ago – it's great news for any Town supporters planning a trip to Forest Green next season.