Cod Almighty | Diary

With apologies to Shakespeare (William, not Craig)

19 July 2024

Your A46 Diary has been considering England's defeat on Sunday. Town have given many memories that allow for the latest England elite's (ha ha!) failure to be quickly forgotten; Fleetwood away loomed large by 22:00 on Sunday night and thoughts of Sonnet 18, play-off wins and cup runs tucked me up very cosily that night.

What's Sonnet 18? I hear very few ask. It is the most famous of Shakespeare’s efforts, the wedding day standby: "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, Thou art more lovely and more temperate, Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date."

It's fame springs from a neat little trick that compares the object of his desire with something that pretty much everyone else finds attractive and desirable, but not this guy, this guy would swap every summer day for just one... well, he's a poet, a sonnet writer at that, so you're free to imagine one of anything you like.

As it's another slow news day, here's an effort for a Sonnet 18 of our very own that you might memorise, rehearse and perform for each other at our pre-season friendly in York tomorrow:

A Sonnet to GTFC

Shall I compare you to an England win?
You are more exciting and intimate:
Beer cups are thrown for every single sin,
And the summer is another poor date.
Sometimes, those boys run a little too cold
And often stutter even with success;
And TV football is trapped in a mould,
Unable to break and will not impress.
But your eternal victories won’t fade,
Your Blundell Park thrill will forever shine
In memories that will always be made,
And senses filled up with nothing so fine.
For as long as we walk down Grimsby Road
Your four letters will be a perfect code.