Cod Almighty | Diary

Orbital

9 March 2026

Well here we all are then starting a shiny new week with the Mighties sitting proudly in the final play off-spot. Blue Moon Diary here easing you into the week and not for the first time I may add. I vaguely recall doing this once before about 20 years ago. Now that really is the definition of occasional. Surely it's like riding a bike?

Probably the only thing more surprising than Blue Moon leaping off the subs bench was the sight of BP being watered before the match and during half time. Given the way we played you'd have to say this tactic was a success as the zippy passing football was almost entirely exclusive to the Mariners who well deserved the point against the league leaders.

Ever watch the feed for the International Space Station? I have recently taken to dipping in and out of the marvellous Space Live feed on ITVX (other platforms are available). I recommend it highly. The spacecraft always orbits from west to east at a tilt of 51.6 degrees. It never has need to radically change its course: it knows where it's going and doesn't let events knock it out of its stride for long. The ISS way is pretty much the Bromley way. And the percentage game is the only game in town. And every hoof they offer brings a foul. Which way it goes is where the percentage lies and you really have to feel for the man in the middle. You know what you're dealing with so just deal with it. And deal with it we did very well indeed against a team of giants of whom the number 4 was giantiest. I know that's not a word but it really should be. The thing is we handled the physicality of the Ravens very well indeed which augurs really well for the challenges to come.

It takes the ISS about the same time to orbit the earth as it does to play a football match. Well an old-fashioned 90 minute long football match anyway. The ISS completes 16 passes a day. That feels almost double the number Bromley completed in the match. Most of these were over 40 yards so they clearly gravitate to the long ball into space. As much as one may dislike the old Div 4 up, at 'em, foul, fall, hoof, rinse and repeat style of the Ravens you can't help but admire the gritty determination that this is indeed the way to get to the promised land. Or Mansfield at the very least.

In a changing world such a contest is kind of comforting. We all know we're the good guys but in this game we don't call soccer it's okay for the bad guys to exist. It's what makes the world go round and long may it and we continue to do so. Still wouldn't want to watch Woodman's Walloping Wonders every week though. And Woodman's decision to dance post-match with Maldini Kacurri firmly ensconces him as a top drawer pantomime villain. He'll never let us lie, will he.

Great to see Svanthorsson is, in the vernacular, "back on the grass". Rather like a prized cow emerging from a winter barn into the fresh lush pastures. Okay, so not likely to see much in the way of lush pasture at BP in this soggy season but a fit Svanthorsson could well make hay while the sun shines between now and season's end. Enough farming analogy already. King Charles has a sore Achilles and the absence of Evan Khouri was due to a knocked knee. No other injuries were reported, which is nice.

In an interesting move the Bromley chairman/co-owner paid for pre-match and half-time snacks and drinks for the faithful 128 who made the 214 mile trek. Which is, of course, a lovely gesture and no cheap jibes at the back please about needing a drink to watch that style of football. Interestingly X (or Twitter) summarised this as "Bromley FC Owner treats away fans to free drinks before Grimsby win". Apparently Bromley "capped the day with a 2-1 victory, stretching their run to 18 games and holding a nine point lead at the top". Luckily in this brave new AI world Grok does tell you upfront its summaries are shit so please verify its outputs. At least the 18 games bit was right.

And, finally, massive congratulations to Grimsby Town Women who yesterday secured the East Midlands Women’s Div. 1 North league title at Dronfield and are going up to the Premier division. On International Women's Day to boot!

UTM and see you in 2046.