Cod Almighty | Diary

What's that coming over the hill?

19 November 2025

Today I learned that Art Garfunkle, in his later bald days, wore a wig. But not a sensible wig. He wore a wig that recreated his 'what's that coming over the hill, is it an afro' look from the sixties and seventies because that's what people expected him to look like. In other words, because he had a terrible haircut in the olden days he had to carry on having the same one in later years for branding and identification purposes. 

Now, you ask, what has that got to do with GTFC? Well, nothing. I'm trying not to think too much about GTFC, which is kind of tricky when you're writing a CA diary. Actually, I can delay the imvitable by talking about Scotland for a bit.

Scotland qualified for the World Cup last night for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Now I cannot claim to be Scottish - indeed I was born in Clethorpes, England - but seeing the passion and celebrations has been good for the soul and a great reminder of how the game can unite and thrill a country and its people.

Indeed, a parallel can be drawn between Scotland being a lower league team like us and England being Man City. England took a pleasure cruise through their group, beating everybody and not conceding a goal. The whole thing felt like standing in line at the Post Office until your number came up. No 76? England? Yes, you've qualified. Sit over there and wait for the World Cup draw, please. Whereas the Scottish campaign was where all the passion, the heartbreak, the intensity and the joy was to be found. Expectations have to be low before you can surpass them. And, what's more, they did it by putting it in the mixer. Where did all your fancy passing get you, Denmark, eh? Yes, you did have a man sent off for defending legally, but that's not the point. The point is mixer, as in, get it in the mixer.  

I suppose I'd better mention Town. On Saturday we are away at a team who are top of the league and managed by a poisonous weasel wearing a hat. Just what we needed. There's not much more to say about last Saturday, except that people who say "the referee wasn't the reason we lost" have a poor grasp of the butterfly effect, and also that the game died when we took off Kabia and put on Amaluzor in an unfamiliar centre-forward role. 

November wouldn't be November without pictures of football mascots during a minute's silence so here are my favourites from this year. There's more to life than football after all.