Cod Almighty | Diary

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

2 December 2015

Wicklow Diary writes: As we were reminded last month, real support is Barrow away on a wild November night. Less glamorous but still on the list is reading every word in the stadium survey or watching the entire AGM on Mariners World. That's what I'm claiming anyway, having missed Barrow but managed to plonk my ever-widening arse in front of a PC to do the other two.

If I had some of the other diarists' musical talent, then by now I'd have written a Rolling Stones knock-off entitled 'Sympathy for the Majority Shareholder'. Instead I just hum the tune and replace the main player as I cringe my way through the events summarised in this diary from two years ago (I know the list isn't intended to be exhaustive but I always include offering Macca £300 a week). The survey and the AGM would have me reaching for the guitar in preparation for another verse.

I have generally tried to be sympathetic towards John Fenty. With the crime sheet mentioned above, this is either admirable forgiveness or stunning stupidity. Does the old saying extend beyond "fool me twice"?

I haven't been struck by Stockholm syndrome and I don't believe that we would be worse off without him. However, bad decisions and PR gaffes from the club have become less frequent over the past two years (this improvement seems to have coincided with the Mariners Trust's Dave Roberts and Jon Wood joining the board).

Fenty is a well-intentioned fan, living the dream of having the wealth to play a part in the fortunes of his team. In this respect, I salute him for putting his own money into the club. This is the point where the sympathy ends. Sorry John, but if your decisions directly increased the club's debt, that's your debt. The paid-up contracts, the sackings, the relegation. You're out of pocket, we're out of our minds. There comes a point when you've got to write it off. Your investment can go down as well as up, and all that.

Unfortunately – and perhaps unsurprisingly given his track record – he doesn't see it like this. The majority shareholder has ruled out all other stadium options and is set on Peaks Parkway. This isn't Neil Woods/Mike Newell vote of confidence certain. This is completely and utterly, hands-over-ears, Russ-is-never-worth-that certain. He says "common sense" rules out everywhere but Peaks Parkway.

Amid repeated mentions of "site masterplans", one master plan is apparent. One that enables the club to pay back £4million and some poxy mystery developer to afford another ivory back scratcher. The fans? We'll be left with a skip on a by-pass surrounded by concrete naffness while the town centre rots and the rest of GY along with it.

Politicians know that most of the electorate are lazy arses who don't want to think about complexity, to use their brain to make an informed choice. So they boil it all down to a couple of high-stakes, fear-inducing headline choices. Do you really want them immigrunts coming over stealing your benefits? Are you a terrorist sympathiser who wants to blow us up?

The club has done this with the stadium – do you want the club to survive? They don't need to provide most of the punters with the facts to back it up – hearing that question from a man in a nice suit is enough for the majority. In a moment of weakness I answered the club's rallying call last year and went with the trust party whip. All off a sudden we're told that 86 per cent want Peaks Parkway. You can uncount me now that we've seen the full facts.

Some might argue that Fenty has kept us afloat and he's entitled to favour the project that will get his cash back. I don't agree. The fans and the club's 137 years deserve a stadium built through a transparent process where the best site is picked for the right long-term reasons.

It's time for everyone concerned to do what's best for the long-term future of the club and the real community that it belongs to. Give the other sites a fair crack and ensure all funding options are fully examined. Identify every FSIF, EU, council, government, Young's Dockside Arena and supporter penny. For example, I haven't got it in my wallet (or my bank account for that matter) but I'd commit £1,000 a year for a season ticket for 10 years. Could we find another 1,000 loons willing to do the same? That's 10 million quid and we're halfway there. Crazy talk... but have we asked the question? There are other ways to do it (as Rapid Wien have found).

And I've said it before and will probably say it again – look at FC United. See if you can find "enabling development" in their stadium funding.

Luckily we have the trust and our two places on the board. They have toed the Peaks Parkway line to date, but I believe in the trust. Dave and Jon are our voices in the boardroom and if we shout loud enough long enough, the rest of the board will eventually have to listen.

Any other business at the AGM not reported elsewhere? Unfortunately it appears that safe standing is not going to happen at Blundell Park. Although we could install it now, we would have to remove it next season when if we're back in the League. A quirk in the legislation means that it will take an act of parliament for this situation to change (for the safe standing I mean, not us getting promoted).

Finally, it's been another good week for Lee Mullen. Not only was his election to the board confirmed, but by being referred to online as both Mullens and Mullins, he's entered the select Bob Cummings/Cummins multi-plural variant category.

Just one thing for him to be wary of – it occurred to me during the AGM that Town's debt is coincidentally very close in total to the Mullens' jackpot win. From my experience of drunken spending sprees at HMV in Leicester Square and some sozzled eBay purchases, to be safe, Sue shouldn't allow Lee to take his cheque book when he's "just going out with mates from the club".