Cod Almighty | Diary

Couldn't give a coin toss

24 April 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: Had it not been the end point of a mini-break in the north west, I would not have gone to the Tranmere match on Saturday and that would have been the correct decision. Everything else about the three-day trip went perfectly, right up to and including finding somewhere to park just round the corner from Prenton Park. There the good fortune ended. This came as no real surprise - it was my third Tranmere away game, all losses.

The first was nearly 25 years ago, also the culmination of a mini-break, starting with a game at Blackburn on the Saturday – a decent one-all draw – and ending on The Wirral on Tuesday night. Though only October, the weather was freezing and necessitated the purchase of some extra socks on the way to the ground. Town were mid-table in the second tier at the time but this was in the days before Town developed a large away following so only around 100 Town fans saw the dismal 3-2 defeat. Largely attributable to Danny Coyne, if I remember rightly.

My next Tranmere visit was the infamous end of season game in 2004 when 2,000 of us witnessed Town's relegation from the third tier. I have spoken to some fans who claim to still feel the trauma of sinking to the bottom tier in the league - the very place we were so pleased to get back to last year. In fact, the very place the national media have been making such a hullabaloo this weekend about Wrexham reaching. It's a funny old world.

What can I say about Saturday's game? It was a dead rubber in terms of league position, but there were still hundreds of Town fans who had made the trip and wanted Town to "put on a show". The drummer has made a real impact on the away-day atmosphere in the last month or so, but sadly went missing during the second half at a time when the players really needed a lift. Yes, it was disappointing to go 2-0 down just after the break but there was plenty of time to stage a comeback. A bit more support and a bit less moaning from the crowd might have made all the difference. Though Harry Clifton should definitely be voted as player of the season for that performance alone.

All in all it was not a good sporting weekend for me. Yesterday Nottinghamshire, who were cruising to a comfortable draw at bottom side Middlesex in the county cricket championship, declared when they still had four wickets in hand and managed to lose the game.

And then there was Brighton's FA Cup exit. It felt like most of us became Brighton fans for the day in recognition of the tremendous experience of the quarter-final match and the gracious way Town were treated. Once the game went to penalties, it somehow felt inevitable that Man United would triumph. It's a cruel way for any team to lose such an important game. When doing a quiz at the weekend, I discovered that the semi-final of Euro 68 between Italy and USSR ended in a draw and the result was decided on a coin toss. Is that any crueller? At least that way no individual player carries the burden of loss.

Maybe Town and Tranmere should have saved us all a trip and settled the fight for eleventh place with a coin toss.