Cod Almighty | Diary

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, Those days of soda and pretzels and beer but no footy.

30 May 2023

So that's the play-offs for this season over and done with. I was chatting about the games before the weekend and it's unusual for me to be totally indifferent to which teams went up. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased for the teams that did go up but did I really care? No, not really. I usually want either one of the teams to go up, or not to go up. I'm quite happy to admit that any preference one way or the other is based on some historical prejudice I may hold for the team born from a previous encounter, a player or manager I dislike, or something equally infantile. That's football. Or maybe that's me but anyway, congratulations to Carlisle United, Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town.

There can't have been many Town fans who didn't look at Luton and hope that the Mighty Mariners follow the same trajectory. At least the trajectory of the last ten years and not the previous 20: five relegations, three administrations and penalised a total of 40 points. They also had the awfulness that was Mike Newell as their manager for a time. Maybe it's an omen. They escaped him, we escaped him and the culture he joined and/or encouraged. Who knows?

For now, I’ll settle for steady, ongoing improvement and a well-run club. That will do for a start. I'm already looking forward to the fixtures coming out in three and a half weeks. Clean slates and planning away days. For now, I’ll also settle for collecting our season tickets in the next week or so. It will feel all the more real then.

UTM!