Cod Almighty | Diary

Those were the days

12 July 2023

'Twas on this day 42 years ago that Ghost Town was the soundtrack to the sultry summer of riots, Captain Botham had been sacked after the Aussie victory in the second test and it was precisely a few weeks after your jammy dodger of a Deviant Diary strode into the prefabs for his German 'O' level oral exam, having accidentally selected the only topic actually rehearsed and opened with these evocative words:

Grimsby ist ein Fischereihafen an der Ostküste Englands. In der Gegend leben etwa zweihunderttausend Einwohner. Es gibt eine Fußballmannschaft, die in der zweiten Liga spielt!

And at that very point the examiner interrupted this befuddled dribble of cod German and asked arbitrary questions, never to return to the text I hadn't prepared. Phwoar, result! It's a results business after all.

So what life lessons do we take from this Ancient Mariner's tale?

Was this fussball fortune or a supremely well-planned and efficient use of time?

Like life. Like football. Things happen. Do you make your own luck or take advantage of the opportunities that arise? It's a bit of this and that, a balance, a mix, neither one thing nor another. You can have plans but you need to be flexible.

And that's where we are now, a club with plans but unexpected events will occur. One unexpected event may be something to write about. There's nothing going on. And how do we all fill this vacuum? Making stuff up and remembering the days before today, the days when we were young.

Yeah, 1981. So long ago, was it all a dream? The league season started on 29 August with a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester. Attendance 11,032. Blimey, eh, those were the days. Clive Wigginton, Trevor Whymark, Gary Beacock and some very brown tank tops for goalposts.

I tell you who was there that day. Bill Meek Snr, whose funeral I attended yesterday. A Town man through and through.

During the 90s when we lived way on down south, before our season ticketing began, Mr Meek (always Mr Meek to me) acted as our roving reporter, always willing to tell me about the match. I'd ring up at 6 o'clock every other Saturday and get his unique perspective on the afternoon's events. Remember when Town beat Luton 7-1 in the FA Cup? Here's his opening gambit: "They could have scored four".

A true Grimbarian indeed.

At last! Town news! I walked into the club shop yesterday behind Dave Boylen. From this I deduce that Harry Clifton has been bought by Vfl Bochum and the original Diddy Dave is his hip replacement.

OK, I admit it, I made up 68.3% of that paragraph. Ah, but which bits?

There just ain't nothing going on for us headless chickens. Do you want a diversion from the aimless saunter towards the 'Ull game? Here's something. Never mind a cryptic link, what's it all about, Alfie? Your match reporter has been tapped up for some more free content by one of the less-Mad Hatters of Stockport. Less a preview or a prediction, more a shrug. Who knows what tomorrow brings. Who knows anything? With a little luck we can make the whole darn thing work out.

With a little luck something will actually happen this week and we can stop meandering down memory lane.