Cod Almighty | Diary

If it's Tuesday, it must be a bit of preaching and a plug for We are Town

20 October 2015

Middle-Aged Diary has just conceived a rather unlikely lifetime ambition: one that, in all honesty, I'll probably have forgotten about in two hours' time. Seeing that that the reserves are in action at home to Rotherham tomorrow, I've a sudden whim that one day I want to see the stiffs in action. Those of you who live within hailing distance of Blundell Park don't know how lucky you are.

Today, those of us whose jobs are not dependent on the steel industry do know exactly how lucky we are that we can still allow our football team to be near the top of our concerns. We hear a lot nowadays about the "global race", which is nothing more than the effete son of the older term "rat race". The idiot son who has been sent off to an expensive school and learnt to use long words to disguise the fact that this is a race with no winners and countless losers deprived the liberty to enjoy the full scope of their humanity. And the full scope of humanity does include Scunthorpe United.

That brings us to We are Town. The team behind the book is just finalising the proofs before it goes off to the printers, ready for the launch at McMenemy's on 13 November. It is a book by Town fans, but that is not to say We are Town is amateur. This is people with professional skills – writers, editors, designers, photographers, marketers – bringing those skills to bear on a subject they love. It is wresting back for ourselves – for all our selves – a bit of what we have to give in the daily grind.

The result is a rather beautiful book. Its chapters transport you back to the Main Stand against Exeter in 1972, the Barrett during a famous cup win and even the Findus when one of our less fondly remembered players got in a row with a spectator. As you read Cod Almighty, We are Town is a book you are going to want to read, and re-read. So go order a copy. Better still, make sure you are free on 13 November and get a ticket for the launch, and the chance to meet some of those players and one of the managers who inspired the book.