Cod Almighty | Diary

Evan knows we're miserable now

10 June 2024

Miss Guest Diary writes: Is it just me who feels that the six weeks since the season ended feels more like six months? From dipping into Twitter of late, I suspect not. It's another four weeks until the first pre-season game at Grimsby Borough on 9 July and a further four and a half weeks until the season gets underway on 10 August. That feels like a really long time. I suppose our last game being in April is one of the reasons why this year's summer break feels so long. Another reason could be that we are extra keen for the new season to start so that we can well and truly put the last awful one behind us.

Normally during the summer I can occupy myself with cricket but Notts Outlaws' record of played five lost five T20 games has put a dampener on that activity. As for the T20 World Cup, with the coverage being exclusively on Sky and the games starting at odd times to suit the Indian TV market, I've not really been paying attention.

Of course, the Euros start on Friday and my wall chart has been in place for a couple of weeks now, but I'm not feeling any particular excitement. I will watch all of the games, of course, it's a tradition in our house, but England's performances in last week's friendly games were dismal and don't bode well for them progressing far.

It's all gone quiet on the season ticket front – the last total I saw was 4,700, so Saturday's kit announcement came as a godsend. I watched the launch video on YouTube at least six times, and then got stuck in a nostalgia loop, watching random Mariners Moments for the next couple of hours. Revelling in Gavan Holohan's wonder strike at Chesterfield, George Lloyd's 96th-minute winner at Doncaster and Harry Clifton's equaliser at Luton; and of course the crazy evening at Southampton where VAR was our friend and Town reached an FA Cup quarter final. Then coming back down to earth with the sad realisation that the only player from those games who is still with the club is Evan Khouri.

Thinking of how much I like to reminisce about players I've seen and matches I've attended brought to mind an article from last week's Guardian about memory, particularly in relation to people suffering with dementia. The writer, Matt Singleton, specialises in understanding the process of ageing and has written a book called Looking Back at…the 1966 World Cup, designed to stimulate memories and help people make connections. The book has a forward by Geoff Hurst who references the team mates he has lost to dementia, including both of the Charlton brothers. Of course, Town has its own sporting memories group which runs every week at Blundell Park under the charge of the inimitable Kristine Green.

Getting back to the new kit – isn't it brilliant! I have never been particularly interested in the design of Town's kit or ever considered buying a football shirt, but I feel tempted to break the habit of a lifetime for this year's model.