Almanac Soccer: That’s not a haddock, that’s a rainbow trout

Wimbledon, with their ten-game unbeaten run, and with their one-nil win over Salford on the weekend are now up to second on the table. Some Wimbledon stalwarts who were at the game reckon that cashed-up Salford are not only buying all the players going around, but they’re also buying the refs as well! (haha)

 

In the last couple of seasons, Wimbledon have sold their best players during the January transfer window for much needed cash, their form dipped because of it, and without their best players for the rest of the season, they plummeted down the table. This year, they didn’t sell any players, Wimbledon forward Matty Stevens is the League’s top scorer, and if they maintain their form, they’re up for automatic promotion. It’s the problem that faces all lower tier clubs. Should they sell their best player for the cash, or hang on to them and hope for promotion glory?

 

Wimbledon’s youth academy, where they nurture home grown talent or get a player on a cheap transfer and then sell to the bigger clubs has yielded the club 3.3 million pounds in the last few years – well worth the investment. In a first for the club, they held their first international Worldwide Wombles Weekend, and supporters from China, Finland, Australia, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, Scandanavia (the SweDons) travelled to Plough Lane to watch them play Salford. There were also some ex-players from 1975, a famous year for the club as Wimbledon, then a non-league and amateur club captured the football public’s attention when they beat Division One team Burnley in an FA Cup tie and forced a replay with Leeds in the following round before losing one-nil. Wimbledon went on to win the Southern League championship and were elected to Division Four at the end of the season. In those days, there was no promotion to the Football League, you had to be elected, so even if you won a championship as Wimbledon had done, there was no guarantee that you wouldn’t still be playing in the same league the next season. Wimbledon went from entering the Football League with part-time players to playing the Arsenals and Liverpools in the Division One in just nine years; quite an achievement.

 

It’s been an interesting season this year for the Dons. The club’s museum flooded when a nearby river burst its banks and home games were postponed for a while because a sinkhole appeared on the ground. There were nearly 8,000 fans at Plough Lane for the Salford match, and there’s excitement and optimism that this might be their year, where for the first time in nine years, they will be promoted.

 

I wrote earlier that the teams near the top lose their consistency, the teams that stop winning and start losing will be overrun and slip down the table. Crewe Alexander have lost their consistency; they’ve taken three points from eighteen over the last six rounds, and are clinging to seventh spot, the last play-off place, one point above Salford.

 

Second last placed Morecambe celebrated a two-nil win over fellow strugglers Accrington Stanley for their second win in four games and are one point below Tranmere, who’ve won only once in their last twelve outings. Morecambe are finding consistency at the right time of the year. They have some tough games against Doncaster and Walsall coming up, but I suspect they have a quiet confidence that they may be able to produce an upset in one of those games.

 

Another team that’s hit their straps is Grimsby Town. They’re the only team to have won their last three games, are one point below Crewe and would have to be favourites to beat Fleetwood next Saturday.

 

Grimsby last made the headlines in 2023. In a town that was once home to the largest fishing fleet in the world, a town synonymous for their fishing industry, that when they were drawn to play Southampton in a FA Cup tie, the Saints banned Mariners supporters from bringing their unofficial inflatable mascot, ‘Harry the Haddock,’ a plastic blow up fish to wave on the terraces to inspire Grimsby to a win. An online stink ensured, Southampton relaxed their ban, and hundreds of Grimsby supporters were able to bring ‘Harry the Haddock’ with them.

 

The mascot originated in 1989, when local reporter Nigel Lowther from the Grimsby Telegraph came up with the idea of an inflatable fish for the fans to wave at Blundell Park. ‘Harry the Haddock’ was born and has been a fan favourite for nearly four decades. Although Nigel received plenty of phone call from the town’s fishmongers when photos of Harry the Haddock first appeared in his newspaper.

 

‘That’s not a Haddock,’ they complained, ‘that’s a Rainbow Trout.’ But ‘Harry the Haddock’ stuck and has been around ever since.

 

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Chris Kelly, Grimsby supporter.

 

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

 

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