Cod Almighty | Diary

Just another ordinary day

18 September 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: When I suggested in this diary last week that Town would beat Wrexham I didn't really believe it. But that's not the reason I stayed home on Saturday; that's much more prosaic. The journey from here to North Wales breaks my two and a half hours on the road without an overnight stay rule. And the overnight stay was ruled out by other commitments here in Lincolnshire.

So I stayed home and did old-lady things like sewing and reading and watching bad movies on Netflix. Having read Mr Butcher's report of proceedings, I think I probably had a better time of it, certainly a less frustrating one. It seems to have been the same old story – nice football between the penalty areas but no cutting edge. Obviously not helped by having our two best attacking players injured.

I normally stay well away from social media after a defeat but I was lured there out of curiosity when I saw a message from a sometime resident of CA Towers which mentioned a Twitter meltdown. But I couldn't actually find one. The majority of Town fans seemed quite rational about Town's performance and what needs improving, and the gloating from Wrexham fans was only to be expected after the stick they got from us about the play-off victory.

Who can blame Wrexham for basking in their current success after so many years in non-league? Fifteen years during which they had several play-off disappointments, including a play-off final defeat to Newport ten years ago, and might even have been relegated further in 2020 had the season not been curtailed by Covid. What fan of a lower league club wouldn't get a kick out of seeing their team featured regularly on TV and knowing they have plenty of cash to splash on players? Sure, it's a bit annoying for the rest of us down here and there's a vague feeling that it's somehow unfair Wrexham accidentally struck the Hollywood jackpot, but better an American movie star that the Saudi PIF.

They might as well make the most of it while the club pursues its stated ambition to reach the promised land of the Premier League as soon as possible. To finance a successful team at that level takes billions, not millions – otherwise it's 38 games of praying not to get stuffed and going straight back down. Just look at Luton this season: played four, lost four, goals scored 2, goals conceded 10. Not to mention the increased cost for fans – apparently the average price of a matchday ticket in the Premier League is £50 and goodness only knows what they charge for season tickets.

I suppose this could sound like sour grapes, especially to the Wrexham podcasters who took exception to BOTB Diary describing their team as ordinary, but I'd still rather have Stockitt and Petwood as our club's owners. It still feels like our Town.

UTM