Cod Almighty | Diary

Bring Bob back and make your mind up

12 March 2020

Did any football fans buy any of the "Keep calm and carry on"-inspired gifts that were all the rage a few years back? Was there a football-related spin off? Surely not, unless it was "Keep histrionic and carry on posting about football".

Let's do our bit to stop the spread of coronavirus by not mentioning it. Or at least not after this. It says something about how profoundly immature I am, despite being Middle-Aged Diary, that one of my first thoughts on hearing of the air travel ban between the United States and the European Union is that at least it has not yet put the kibosh on Joe Waters and Bob Cumming returning to Blundell Park for the launch, on 9 April, of Rob McIlveen's book about the 1979-80 season. (and if you can give a bit to help fund Bob's flights, please do - not too much more needed)

1979-80 will always be the season for me- the first time supporting Town came to feel not like the quixotic act of a mid-Walian adolescent but a source of pride. I didn't actually see many games that year, so my memories are thin. I'm looking forward to sharing other people's when I get my hands on the book. But even just following the results 250 miles away was exciting.

Obviously we had also been promoted in 1978-79, but that just felt like reclaiming our rightful place in Division Three. But when we beat Everton, it was, I think I'm right in saying, our first victory over a top flight team since the 1950s. And when we won the title, it meant we were back in the second division for the first time in 16 years, before younger fans' living memories. George Kerr, Waters, Cumming and all the rest were pioneers: they were breaking new ground.

In the late 1970s, there were good reasons - the abolition of the maximum wage, the collapse of the fishing industry - for thinking we'd never go to the places they took us to again. There are always good reasons for thinking Town will never triumph again. But now and again we triumph anyway. There's still life in the old game for us yet.

James Hanson and Charles Vernam have had their chances of being named the fourth flight's February player of the month crocked by both being nominated. There may be fans out there who will happily take the trouble to vote for a player from another club, but I suspect there aren't too many. So while fans of Town (and also Oldham) have to choose who to back, Crewe and Port Vale will be lumping on their one selection and the other 20 clubs will be shrugging their shoulders with gallic indifference.

Perhaps they should introduce the single transferable vote. Or better still, have away votes - that is votes cast away from the ip address areas of each player's club - count double. Town, with its high proportion of exiled fans would then be quids in.

Bye.