Pat Bell
patjbp.bsky.social
Pat Bell
@patjbp.bsky.social
Welsh-ish whisky socialist, neo-librarian and would-be historian of Grimsby Town when we were good
I think if I went to bed and slept for ten hours Colombia and Switzerland would still be playing next day, and it would still be 0-0
July 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM
The @codalmighty.bsky.social diary, and there may not be a readership for a meditation on a quick chat between Garry Birtles and Neil Woods and stories of century-old Chesterfield skulduggery, but that what you are getting www.codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...
Cod Almighty - the Grimsby Town fanzine
I couldn't hear a word Birtles and Woods were saying, and even if I could it would have felt like eavesdropping on a conversation curiously intimate under 6,000 pairs of eyes. It was however wonderful to see.
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April 14, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Why did #gtfc fans take miniature watering cans to the 1939 FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford? They were nursing a grievance from a previous game against Wolves. Thanks to @codalmighty.bsky.social for publishing an extract from my forthcoming book www.codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...
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February 10, 2026 at 9:28 AM
A late call up as today's Cod Almighty diarist, and as well as calling out the persistence of sexism, an excuse to mention Chekhov. #gtfc
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Cod Almighty - the Grimsby Town fanzine
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February 4, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Radio 3 is launching a US road trip today. Just at the moment it feels equivalent to starting a tour round Russia straight after the invasion of Ukraine
January 9, 2026 at 9:20 AM
The gospel according to Newbegin Diary www.codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?... #gtfc
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December 29, 2025 at 10:20 AM
It is over 150 years since the Conservatives were first called the "stupid party". Katie Lam and Kemi Badenoch can apparently only aspire to such heights of intellect
December 18, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The shame of a long-time Labour supporter, a life lesson from a former footballer and the agonising defeat of #gtfc youth team. All in today's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 AM
On Tuesday 14 Feb 1939 Grimsby schools took a half day holiday so pupils could attend #gtfc's Fa Cup replay with Sheffield United. That day Germany launched the battleship Bismark. May have been in the backs of people's minds there mightn't be another cup tie at Blundell Park for a few years after
November 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Child in Cleethorpes points across the Humber to ask "Dad, what is that country over there?" No one from Yorkshire in hearing or their ego would have floated them to Spurn Point
October 18, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Imagining Jack Bestall and Alan Buckley sitting together watching Dave Artell's #gtfc. Today's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary

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September 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
"He was all football and expected everyone else to be the same." Ted Buck on Jack Bestall but it might be John Cockerill on Alan Buckley or anyone on anyone who is excellent in their field. Some praise is timeless
September 21, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Is the definition of a serious musician someone who hears the word magnificat and doesn't think it sounds like a cartoon superhero?
September 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Sometimes the most awful events bring the best out of people. It is hard to imagine Sheffield Wednesday, under their current ownership, supporting an event like this. Today's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary
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September 16, 2025 at 11:03 AM
It very occasionally amuses me, if no one else, to write the @codalmighty.bsky.social diary in the style of a Sherlock Holmes story. Here goes.

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September 3, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Some readers thought last week's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary, about 1932, was less than topical. This is an improvement. It's about 1938 codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...
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August 26, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Today's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary is probably deep in the domain of more fun to write than to read. A profoundly topical attempt to make tonight's game a grudge match. #gtfc

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August 19, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Apparently the novelist Anthony Trollope wrote 1,000 words an hour, even when riding in the back of a stage coach for his day job with the post office. But he wasn't writing about #gtfc between the wars. I've written 3,000 words in three months
August 10, 2025 at 6:06 AM
One of those @codalmighty.bsky.social diary's that was probably a lot more enjoyable to write than to read. But it is quite short.

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July 22, 2025 at 10:35 AM
I've been having a difficult time with the latest chapter of Cinderellas of the Football League. Had Co-Pilot redraft a paragraph. It was banal, Americanised rot. Humans can sleep easy
July 20, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Unnamed Labour MP quoted in today's papers: "we fought Corbyn for five years". Perhaps if they had fought the Tories instead of their own party leader we'd have been spared Johnson and Truss
July 2, 2025 at 7:18 AM
In the horror of a civilisations life chances being dictated by angry old men, I at least had fun imagining a government run by #gtfc in today's diary codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...
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June 24, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I sometimes fear 50% of my writing is an attempt to justify the emotional energy I devote to #gtfc. Here we go again codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...
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June 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Today's @codalmighty.bsky.social diary: the surprising truth behind the old saw that its not the winning or losing that counts

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May 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
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If you have a minority interest, like supporting a lower league football club, you need your local library
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May 20, 2025 at 10:32 AM