Cod Almighty | Diary

Speaking truth to power, if power is listening, and if we know the truth

15 April 2025

Back in the day, when Newbegin Diary was still middle-aged, it was often my role to expose the latest bits of shady practice emerging from the Grimsby board. Hell, I was still close-ish to the young version of myself who sold copies of Militant on street corners. My ambitions had scaled down, but John Fenty seemed a good enough symbol of the bankruptcy of capitalism that I could feel I'd not entirely given up on my old beliefs.

It was with a feeling of some shame therefore when last week, immediately after I'd put the diary to bed, I became aware of the arrangements for this year's Player of the Year Awards. People whose opinions I respect were complaining. "If Fenty had done this, he'd have been pilloried" went one comment. Cod Almighty likes to think we speak truth (dressed up in cultural references) to power, although power was usually quite happy to ignore us. Then the 1878 Partnership invited us into the Alan Buckley Suite for our 20th anniversary. Have we been corrupted? 

On their own terms, the awards night arrangements are reasonable. £40 buys you a two-course meal (without drinks) and a long night of hobnobbing with the stars. The only discount on offer (judging from the booking site) is if you can rustle up the numbers for a table of nine. That's all fine: if you want the meal, its not a ridiculous price.

But for the family of four its a non-starter, especially with an estimated finishing time of 10.30 on a school night. Its also out for the person happy to buy their own grub, but who still wants to see the player they voted for pick up their award, in particular if they were foolish enough to have put money into a Buckinghamshire sports franchise two days earlier (Cod Almighty does not condone such spending).

Running a fourth-flight football club remains a money sink, and the club does still cater for fans with limited cash. I was distracted last Tuesday because I was dwelling on the free exhibition of Town history (still on in the Trust bar until tomorrow) which was launched alongside an open training session. Both fantastic things to be doing, but the question remains: is it right to put the awards night beyond the reach of so many supporters, to turn it into a corporate shindig?