Cod Almighty | Diary

You'll never walk alone

26 April 2016

Justice at last. Always remember, above all, that 96 ordinary people, just like you and your original/regular Diary, went to a football match and never came home. Always remember, too, that the machinery of the British establishment – the police, government and media – did all they could to hide their own culpability and blame the victims instead.

Never assume that you can trust the British establishment. Never assume that they will not conspire against your interests and cover their tracks. The aftermath of Hillsborough was an act of class war. This time working people fought back and won. So let us all be grateful for the courage and toughness of the Hillsborough families. They've won justice for those they loved and lost. But they've also achieved a victory for all football fans and the entire working class.

No-one can yet say whether today's verdict on events in the 1990s will have knock-on effects for policing and stewarding in the 2010s. But curiously, on the same day the Hillsborough verdict has emerged, Merseyside Police have declared a "dispersal zone" in Birkenhead for the visit of GTFC this weekend. This gives police temporary powers to forcibly remove anyone from the zone who they deem likely to cause a nuisance.

Now, there's a lot at stake for the home club, and the behavioural record of Grimsby fans on the last day of the football season is far from unblemished. But policing cannot be pre-emptive. I expect police to intervene if a crime takes place – not to have arbitrary powers which they can wield on a whim. If we've learned anything since 1989, surely we've learned that there are huge dangers in apportioning powers like these. Never assume that you can trust the British establishment.

Back home in Grimmo, supporters are divided about the merits of their team, and their approach to supporting it. Fans have always talked about whether the football they watch is any good. But very recently, without realising it, many seem to have assumed a particular standard to judge it against. Not so many years ago, we used to watch the game and decide it was OK, or great, or bloody rubbish. Today, though, when things go badly, it's no longer just bloody rubbish – it's not good enough. Or it's unacceptable.

This begs a couple of questions. One is: not good enough for what? If you say "not good enough" or "unacceptable", do you believe anything other than promotion is failure? Do you think a defeat on penalties in the play-off final is the same as finishing 20th? Well, alright then – you're entitled to your childishly simplistic point of view. But don't assume everyone shares it.

The second question is what we're actually supposed to do, in practical terms, to not "accept" a poor performance. How do we not accept it? Rain abuse on the manager and players? Again, it's a free country, and you have the right to scream like a baby when you don't get your way. Good luck with making things better by doing that.

Of course, fans have always moaned when their team loses. That's inseparable from football: our attachment is emotional, not rational, so we're bound to get upset. But setting up a Twitter account dedicated solely to sack-the-manager abuse? Wanting your team to lose? If the excellent @gtfcshitlarks has one weakness, perhaps it is an occasional drift to over-leniency: these offences warrant a straight red.

Once we do go up, I imagine it'll only be 18 months or so before the same people turn the same shade of purple after a frustrating goalless draw with Wycombe Wanderers and ask us whether we're "happy" being ninth in League Two. I wouldn't be altogether surprised if they were among the thousands of Town fans who wanted unambitious Alan Buckley sacked around the turn of the century because he seemed happy merely to keep us mid-table in the second flight.

In the end, whether I'm "happy" with the division we're in, or the manager we have, or the conduct of the major shareholder, or any other circumstance around the club, doesn't even matter. I support my club whether I'm happy or not. You can approach it any way you like, but that's my understanding of support.

In team news from Tranmere, Paul Hurst is basically saying, now that Town's play-off place is assured, that he'll approach it like an early round of the FA Trophy. Fielding a team drawn from the reserves that lost to Gateshead yesterday is the manager's prerogative, of course. But, like the dispersal zone and the memory of Burton 2010, it'll prompt some fans to question whether they really fancy going. And if our manager is happy to ease the home team's passage to the final play-off slot, let's hope he never needs a favour from Eastleigh or Braintree. See yers.