Cod Almighty | Diary

Irishman swallowed cycle tools

7 May 2021

Add "2021: GTFC fans rejoice amid relegation and banishment to the conference" to the list of official list of GY paradoxical ironies and unexplained events. Where it ranks among such classics as the bottomless Chapman's Pond, the Humber mirages and Glen Downey is open for debate but it certainly makes a nice change from sobbing uncontrollably or smashing up the nearest town centre.   

Moments of GTFC joy in the past 20 years for Daubney Diary have become so scarce that they've been replaced with the mere hope of joy. When they arrived, they've always been accompanied by the knowledge that it was effectively a cheer for a successful and inventive new arrangement of the deck seating on the Titanic. It seems fitting that an era when happiness was eroded by dread ends with a failure that has been completely obliterated by positive vibes.  

Tomorrow's visit to Cambridge should signal our last game in the League for at least fourteen months. There is a Football League discussion ongoing about the conference being a bit crap and not worthy of receiving Town and Southend. If anyone believes that could save us or even believes it should, they are following the wrong sport. For starters, crap clubs are thoroughly deserving of a place in a crap league. I know that in an alternative, better, world, it would be the owners that get relegated. Or at least put in the stocks for a week or two.

Secondly, take a look at the clubs vying to replace us. Thanks to Devon Diary and YouTube we've had regular updates on Torquay's aceness. It would be a travesty for them or Sutton or whoever to be denied by a technicality that, like Jimmy Gilligan, is far removed from the business of putting the ball in the net.

Anyway, Cambridge need to win to ensure promotion. They've lost their last two and I wouldn't put it past Town to upset their day again. In fact after not winning 10 'must-win' games in a row, it seems inevitable that we will win tomorrow and end up one win shy of safety. This will prove that only one of the ten was a 'must-win' and enable me to settle a few old scores on Twitter.

Ah, old scores. Andrew Pettit and Jason Stockwood, besides needing a nickname or acronym to avoid me having to type their names out every time, have stressed the importance of drawing a line under the past and looking forward. To this end, we are firmly on board with the rush of new sign-ups to the Mariners Trust and applaud the release of the club's fan survey. 

However, the Cod Almighty crew had 'Fenty Out' scribbled on their school jotters long before it was cool. This doesn't come with any privileges or demand any favour but we still have a couple of loose ends to tie up before we close his file. So allow me to direct you to Tony Butcher's excellent account of John Fenty's tax manoeuvres. I say excellent and I mean excellent. When it comes to tax explanations, my eyes normally glaze over. Not this time. Tony has also contributed to a long article on the ex-majority shareholder by the Athletic. 

Finally, spare a thought for Al Wilkinson, resident poet here at CA. He stepped into the mind of Fenty to produce My Time, My Money. Don't have nightmares and buckle in for what promises to be a fun close season.