Cod Almighty | Diary

Son of the Feather

2 October 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: When does a loss for your team feel like a bit of a win? Easy – when you were expecting a pasting and it doesn't materialise.

Rewind to 9am on Saturday morning when, as I was making the sandwiches for our trip to the game, I stopped to ask myself what I was doing. At 150 miles cross country, Swindon contravenes my two and a half hour limit for away journeys, yet we always go. I pondered whether when we earmarked which away games to attend at the start of the season we were somehow channelling the 1990s when we lived in Watford and the journey was a 90-minute straight shot down the M4.

Added to the distance is the fact that my experiences of going there have been less than auspicious over the years. I have already recounted the story of the traumatic loss in September 1994 which still rankles 29 years later and then, of course, there was last season's abject 5-0 defeat. With Swindon unbeaten this season and having scored a hatful of goals, the omens were not good. Once at the game I began to think Swindon were trolling the Town fans when the stadium announcer repeatedly referred to us as the cod army, wheeled out Fjortoft's son for a pitch side interview, then mispronounced several players' names.

So the match itself came as a pleasant and enjoyable surprise. There were many positives to take away from the performance – if not the actual result. Nearly the whole team played well and could have secured a draw or even a win if luck - and the referee - had been on our side. I have to put in a word here for Cod Almighty's own Toby Mullarkey, who was magnificent. If only Hurst had kept him at right-back instead of shoving him in at centre-half in the Crawley game we might have got a better outcome there too. I won't go so far as to say I'm optimistic for tomorrow's game against Barrow, but I'm not dreading it either.

Uppermost in the minds of many Town fans in the last couple of weeks has been what is happening to our footballing neighbours down the A180. Leaving aside the deranged few who think that Scunthorpe going out of business is something to be welcomed as the ultimate triumph over local rivals, the response from Town fans has been a mixture of relief and sympathy. Relief that we now have owners of integrity when we might so easily have been in a similar boat had Fenty's cosying up to convicted fraudster not been exposed. Sympathy for the plight of the Scunthorpe staff and fans who may soon find themselves out of work and with no football team to support. Well done to the many Grimsby folk – including Town's owners – who have donated to the online fund created to help pay staff wages.

One thing the Scunthorpe crisis also did was provoke a debate at CA Towers as to who Town's local rivals really are. We concluded that it depends on how old you are. Older folk are more likely to consider Town's rivals to be the Sheffield clubs, or even Barnsley, while for younger ones it's going to be Lincoln who we played nearly every season this century until they went up to the third division in 2019.

Finally, the club are taking part in the campaign to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK, with Chris Doig and other members of the coaching staff aiming to either run 5km or cycle 10km every day in October. You can donate to this cause here.

UTM