Cod Almighty | Diary

Football is far more than a photo opportunity

24 September 2020

Trentside Diary writes: If there is one image this week that has made me cringe it was the meaningless stunt from the odious Cleethorpes and Grimsby MPs, grinning inanely while handing the incompetent supposedly in charge of the country (and no I don't mean the Barnard Castle Gollum) a Town shirt. Can I squash any more adjectives in there to make sure you understand that I cannot stand any of them? Let's just say that if they choose to visit Blundell Park I will happily piss on their fish.

As a pair of political nonentities they were probably pretty desperate to get a "photo opportunity", but instead of jolly, "aren't we important" tweets wouldn't it have been better to take the time to push for some proper commitments to support lower league clubs? What a wasted opportunity, using the club as arm candy rather than deal with its most pressing issue. Why am I not surprised?

I accept that in a pandemic football may be low on the government's agenda but last season there was an average attendance of 759,000 for all Football League clubs (1,546,000 if you include the top flight). Football is a strange kind of entertainment. Go to a gig, a play or the cinema and you expect as a minimum to be entertained, and you might see something that is wonderful. If you go to football you could witness something wonderful, but you also stand a chance of a dour 0-0 draw with nothing to recommend it, or for your team to capitulate and ship three abysmal goals before half-time. In 2009-10 we paid good money to endure unending pain. Yet for many of us, it is football that defines our lives, week in and week out.

That we can't go impacts on us all, and beyond to many who don't go to games. Think of our various Wembley trips - 1998 and 2016 in particular - and they are some of the few occasions when it has felt like local people were of one mind and pulling in the same direction. The power of football to do this is immense. For some the football family is their only chance for downtime or camaraderie. Football clubs are core assets in their community. Some clubs are more involved than others with local people but they are all central to many lives. Add to that the people who are employed by the club and any that fold will have a huge impact locally. It doesn't bear thinking about.

I am concerned about all clubs at this time, but Town in particular. Early in lockdown, club chair Phillip Day suggested that the club would survive for a while, but six months on from not having proper matchday income and commercial arrangements, it must be getting tougher, even allowing for staff being furloughed and players being released. I have seen a few calls for another crowdfunder, but we don't really know the situation and this would only deal with the tip of any financial iceberg. This is where the Football League and the government come in. Something concrete needs to happen. We need action, not empty words and facile gestures from empty vessels.

UTM.