Cod Almighty | Diary

Fail again. Fail better

6 May 2025

So that's that then. Time to tackle the list of chores which, until now, the weekends were never quite long enough to fit in. To find out what bizarre arrrangements the authorities have imposed on the new cricket season. To book outings and holidays. We don't have the Mariners to kick around, or to kick around with, until August.

It is an experience almost unique in this century. We've had seasons which were dead before April, when Town were going nowhere. We've had seasons whose endings have been a relief after a battle against relegation. We've had seasons where the disappointment of failing to secure automatic promotion was softened by a place in the play-offs. On Saturday, for the first time since they became a thing, we just failed to make the play-offs.

Now we know how Bournemouth fans felt back in 1998, for having the campaign cut short by two or three fixtures is curiously like losing to a golden goal, an abrupt denial of the right to fight to the end. The last time I looked at the league tables, Bournemouth seemed to have recovered from the trauma, and so will we.

Elsewhere, you have Tony Butcher's report on our defeat by Wimbledon and Al Wilkinson's thoughts on the season. Newbegin Diary won't go over the same ground. With no win in five matches, we can't quite claim to have ended the season stronger than when we began, but our form in February and March showed we have much to build on, if only we build a squad to allow tired minds to be rested.

Ten years ago, before we met Bristol Rovers in the play-off final, Retro Diary wrote that he had a dream that Town would win promotion, not that weekend but in 2016. In any season, there may be teams who are better than us, or luckier than us; we can only control what we can control. We came out stronger for the experience of 2015, but in 2016 promotion still hung on a slender thread.

On Saturday we went down with the same dignity as we did against Rovers: the well-wishes we offered the Dons fans in the pubs afterwards were unsolicited and heartfelt. All we can do now is give ourselves the best chance for 2026. Maybe it will be enough.