Last Saturday, I had the privilege of watching the match from the comfort of the Real Radio commentary box. It was an event I'd bid on last year in an auction at the Children's Foundation Ball.
In the press room before the match, it was nice to catch up with some of the journalists I regularly correspond with on Twitter such as George Caulkin of the Times, Mark Douglas of The Journal and Joel Goldman of Metro Radio.
I took my seat just as Super Mac was wrapping up his part of the live radio broadcast. Sitting to my left was match commentator Justin Lockwood. To my right was the legend that is Bob Moncur (pictured). Off air before the match, Bob asked me all about the run across the USA and it was a genuine thrill to talk to him about it. What was equally as thrilling was talking live on air, just before the kick off, about the run.
It was brilliant listening to the commentary of Justin followed by Bob's opinion right there live at the match. The fact that it was an open, entertaining game made the day all the more special. Even if we'd been beaten, it wouldn't have taken the shine off being able to watch the match sitting next to Bob Moncur.
After the match, I made my way to the press room to listen to Harry Redknapp and Alan Pardew's take on events. That was quite surreal having seen this type of thing on the TV hundreds of times.
All in all it was a very memorable day out and all for a good cause; The Children's Foundation. Thanks to Justin Lockwood and Bob Moncur for being such great hosts. If only there was a vacancy for a match summariser! Hang on a minute…….
