Cod Almighty | Diary

Town are buzzing but never forget the Grim tales

22 July 2021

Trentside Diary writes: I've been enjoying the reminiscences of Town's pre-season tour of Denmark in 2002. I didn't go to any of our "foreign" pre-seasons. In fact I only vaguely remember them, but how amazing would it be to do something like that again? I've only ever gone to the occasional pre-season game but this is the start of a new era and so I might have to take in Boston away. It will be interesting to see what their new ground is like.

The women's team start their pre-season in Lincoln tonight. The difference in the two worlds of the women's and men's game is highlighted when the manager says it will be a small squad due to "birthdays and summer season work commitments". Bit of an odd one and I'm sure that's a close relative's significant birthday, and not just that they didn’t fancy it, like the kid whose mum let him stay off school because it was his birthday.

Just as we felt things might just creep towards normality in football, the seating arrangements for the McKeown testimonial against Rotherham have had to be tweaked to leave a "red zone", presumably around the dug-outs, so that you can't breathe on the players and management teams. This is following a directive received from the National League yesterday evening. It makes sense to have a zone to keep people more distanced. We would all be frustrated if games were called off due to Covid outbreaks, but couldn't this directive have been released a bit earlier? It is not like the Bananarama league haven't had a while to think about it.

As a diarist, I am just frustrated that this didn't happen under the previous regime so that I could make a clever comment about deckchairs and the Titanic. This new lot have given us little to moan about so far apart from agreeing to move fixtures. What is it to be a football fan who can't have an occasional moan about the owners of your club?

I want to get used to it, but never forgive, never forget and if you’re wavering, just have another bowl through the latest instalment of the Fenty years. They should become part of Town folklore, handed down from parent to child as a warning of what we were and could become again if we let our guard slip. Our very own Grim Tales.

I'll follow Daubney Diary's lead and finish with another "JustGiving" link. Lifelong Town fan George ran 100 kilometres (over 62 miles in old money) last Saturday - in temperatures when I couldn't do 100 metres - up and down Yorkshire hills to raise money for St. Andrews Hospice. It was in memory of his dad, a Town season ticket holder for many years. Many of you have already sponsored him but if you haven't and could spare a couple of quid, please have a read. We're all Town family.

UTM!