Cod Almighty | Diary

As if by magic

27 November 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: Sometimes in this diary I get a bit moany about the behaviour of other fans: leaving when there's still 15 minutes to go; booing the players when the game doesn't go how they want it to; calling for the manager to be sacked two months into the season; singing about The Yorkshire Ripper; too many generic chants – I could go on. I haven't changed my views about any of that, but today – in the spirit of the can-do attitude displayed by Town's owners and staff at last Friday's Fans Forum – I am all about the positives.

I am one of those sad people whose phone goes everywhere with them and first thing in the morning I wake myself up by trawling through the overnight news, finishing up on Twitter for a dose of Town nostalgia from the @onthisGTFCday feed. Without fail there will be at least one game featured which I attended and I can transport myself back to the occasion. As well as sparking my own memories I like to read others' reminiscences about these games, a reminder that "We're all Town aren't we".

The games do not always conjure up a jubilant memory – today, for example, is the anniversary of the league cup game at Highbury in 2001, one of the most disappointing matches I've ever been to. Full of trepidation and excitement before the game, it was played out in a half empty stadium between two teams who barely turned up. Rather a 5-0 masterclass a la Brighton last season than the clinically efficient but bloodless 2-0 defeat that day.

Another game featured today – and one which I think we'd all like to go back in time to witness – is the 15-0 victory in the Lincolnshire cup back in 1886. But my point is not to talk about individual games but to highlight the fantastic job done by Bruce Fenwick who curates and shares all this archive material, preserving these memories for the rest of us. I cannot imagine how much time and effort it takes to make this happen but I know I'm not alone in being heartily grateful. If there's an award out there for this kind of content, then Bruce definitely deserves a nomination.

And just when you are scratching around for a final paragraph to wrap up the diary, Town come up trumps by announcing David Artell as Town's new manager with a contract until the end of the 2025/26 season. Described by Chairman Wow as always their first choice and even more impressive in person than on paper, there's a sense of excitement today at CA Towers. He already has the Butcher seal of approval – after Crewe's 2-0 victory at Blundell Park back in 2019 when Artell was their manager the verdict was "They were just better everywhere in every way. It would be lovely if we ended up being like this Crewe." Well, we've taken the first step.

UTM