I do have to mention our fans though, who impressed the home support, even when we were having a very loud dig at how long it had taken them to get promoted. That’s good football banter. Good for Rochdale. Their promotion will have been well worth the wait. I enjoyed promotion from this level more than any other and I know I will again.

One of the things that has niggled me this season is the expression “put in a shift”. Well excuse me, but a shift is what the long suffering fans who fund the players’ “pampered” lifestyle put in, not a mercenary who turns up for a few hours and might even put some effort in if we are lucky. Given that shift work knocks at least five years off the average lifespan, it’s a bit rich to think that 90 minutes perhaps twice a week can be equated to shift work. The only threat to the lifespan of some players is their lifestyle which, by the way, cheats the fans.

For me, this season has been one of ire and not just because of events on the field. I see Revenue and Customs aren’t challenging Portsmouth going into administration. Well that’s nice. I’ll work that bit harder to pay the tax they can’t be bothered to. I can’t see why football is treated differently in this respect. For sure, good practice would give clubs such as Town time to pay off amounts owed, but to write off debts like this is an abrogation of responsibility to the taxpayer. At least the nine points loss will cost them their place in the Premier League. We never got much down there anyway.

Crystal Palace are firmly in the Championship relegation dogfight and deservedly so. It would be justice served if their administration was to result in their demotion. The ten point deduction took them from the verge of the playoffs to the bottom four.  I’ve heard various quarters suggesting administration should cost two demotions and I’m coming round to that point of view. I don’t see why football clubs should be able to keep disappointing creditors by pulling the rug as it suits them.

The last few seasons are memorable for the sheer number of clubs who are effectively insolvent but have been able to stick two fingers up at the rest of us. Far be it from me to suggest that our governing bodies are ineffective…

My fondest memories of tonight’s opponents come from the 2007/8 season when we dared to dream of the play offs at one point. After another horrendous start to the season, Town had started to put a decent run of games together in the JPT and the league. We managed to win at Saltergate as the home side struggled to cope with Danny North and then beat them 4-2 at Blundell Park in two games where we certainly had the rub of the green when it came to the officials’ decisions. In the latter game, we had gone 3-0 up before the Spireites came back to 3-2 and then hit the bar. Thankfully, we broke away and scored from a penalty given by the nice man in the middle.

Our last game, when we were promoted from Division Four in 1990, was at Chesterfield who needed to win to make the play offs. Town were already assured of promotion so a 2-0 win wasn’t the end of the world. Events off the pitch were more notable than the game itself which was seriously disrupted. I was fortunate enough to see barely a defeat that season. It was a busy day on the London to Sheffield line that day with the Blades winning promotion from the second tier at Leicester and Luton winning at Derby to stay in the top flight. We weren’t jealous of these clubs because we knew we were on the way back. Very fond memories, unlike last autumn, when we had to go three behind before getting ourselves back into contention, although not quite managing to claw a point.

Whatever the outcome, I think Neil Woods is doing a good job in really difficult circumstances. At the end of the day, we’ve been badly let down by some of the “players” who have worn the black and white stripes on a Saturday afternoon. When we have a side of fully committed players, we will have a side to be proud of, and one that will give us the success we all want. It might take time, but we will be back again.

Chris Smith – GTST Board Member