Cod Almighty | Diary

Summer is here, get your washing on the line

15 June 2022

Miss Guest Diary writes: Talk about after the Lord Mayor's Show. My last diary was written the day after our return to the Football League – plenty to say about that. Now here I am, ten days into the close season with nothing Town-related to report.

When Cod Almighty started 20 years ago, the diary pretty much confined itself to reporting actual news. Looking back to 15 June 2002, the diary simply says: David Smith has signed for Swansea. Maybe we should return to that operating model. I could stop now. In fact, I wouldn't even have started, with there being nothing new to report.

But I see that by the following June there had been a sea change and the Diary for this day in 2003 – written on a Sunday! - came in at nearly 1,000 words, ranging over topics as varied as local pubs, Big Brother and Town's letterhead. No actual news, just a rumour about the possible signing of a "foreign gentleman" – which turned out to be Marcel Cas.

Books about football is another topic from that diary, which has given me the idea to tell you about a book I came across a few months ago, called Football She Wrote, an anthology of women writing about their football experiences. One contribution in particular, called My Season-Ticket Friend by Hayley Davinson, struck a real chord with me. It tells the tale of the writer's friendship with a fellow season ticket holder she sat next to by chance in what she calls the season-ticket bubble (STB).

She describes the STB as: a group formed from people who have been sitting across no more than about four rows, though not necessarily together, with enough regularity that they have formed a friendship group. They are usually of mixed age, background, political views – you name it, they are probably a varied group of 'it'. They are a strange mix from the outset, but over time a combination of perhaps a family, a couple, a few friends or a solo attendee have forged this group, and it has become a valuable asset to them all on matchday.

Her description of that phenomenon mirrors my own experience over the last 20 years in the back row of the Pontoon and I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the game at the London Stadium last week with several members of my STB. I can honestly say that a great experience was made all the better by being shared with these folk.

The number of new season tickets now being purchased at Blundell Park means that there are likely to be a lot more STBs formed in the coming months which will hopefully endure and thrive. I am happy to report that my own STB has been expanded by the addition of two CA diarists – one is moving over from the Main Stand, the other is someone who doesn't even live in the UK! #greatertogether