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Last Thursday was a strange day. I was meant to be playing in a but got a phone call earlier in the week from the Football Focus editor, Mark Cole. Mr Cole has numerous nicknames... "Cole", "Cole-Dog", "The Cole", "Colemeister General", but on Monday he was talking business.

"Are you still playing in that golf day this week?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said tentatively, sensing what was coming.
"I need you to go to Anfield to interview Alan Hansen about the Liverpool-Manchester United game."

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I was looking after the kids on Saturday afternoon. After failing miserably to get two-year-old Susie interested in (despite the comedy of the beach-ball incident) I decided it was time to chuck her and little sister Jess in the pram and head for a tour of the local shops.

We were queuing up for breadsticks in our local shopping emporium and two blokes in front of us - about 35 - were buying the nation's favourite sugary sports drink.

Susie asked me, in an awkwardly loud voice, why the men were wearing shorts. In fact, they were wearing full football kits - one West Ham and the other Chelsea. The subject of their conversation was quite entertaining. They were talking about the aforementioned beach-ball incident, which resulted in . This was the best bit...

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After last week's biscuit bonanza, I am going to try desperately not to talk about food in this latest entry into blogville. It'll be hard, but I'll give it a go.

Phil Brown was on last Saturday's Football Focus show. I used to see him regularly when I was a reporter in the north-west and he was Big Sam's number two at Bolton. I've always found him to be a man who loves his football.

Anyway, after the programme we had a bit of a chinwag about Roy Keane and Phil told me about an incident that had happened back in October, 2006.

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I have received a few letters and emails from regular Focusites over the past few weeks, wanting to know what actually happens before the programme goes out on a Saturday.

I have therefore decided to address that very issue in this week's blog. What follows is not a journalistic masterpiece but rather a one-day diary. We shall begin when the clock strikes midnight on the Saturday, 2 October...

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