South London Press

I did a stint in public relations when I was younger...among the clients were a women’s hat manufacturer...quite

Scoring a goal from the half-way line with a back-heel...eat your heart out David Beckham...oh, it was during a six-a-side game

Has to be the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy for the Daily Telegraph...my first World Cup final as a football correspondent...it was far from a classic match but like players, football writers also want to be at the big ones

Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 – and I was there, my ticket cost 17 shillings and sixpence

The Nou Camp even though the press box is so high you can shake hands with the man in the moon

The old Plough Lane press box was, er, interesting...I remember covering the first game of the season there once and there was a sandwich left from the last game of the previous season

David Beckham to Real Madrid...sadly the Daily Telegraph decided not to use it...two months later the story broke...sob

Arsenal 1, Parma 0 – 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup final, Copenhagen...pressed ‘send’ but instead of sending my match report it disappeared into a new tech Bermuda Triangle...after a 30-second swearfest I picked up the landline (those were the days) and adlibbed 800 words

On talkSPORT recently I said: ‘I hope Guus Hiddink returns to English football...he has one more big job in him and I hope it’s here’

At the 2002 World Cup finals a TV crew from Cameroon wanting an interview thought I was Barry Davies...’no, I’m Chris Davies’...’oh, you’ll do’

At the highest level Arsene Wenger has been outstanding...it is rare that his press conferences do not produce a story

When I watch Lionel Messi, which I do virtually every weekend on Sky Sports, I am continually astonished at his skill...he makes the near-impossible seem easy, the ball is almost velcro’d to his magical left foot while he does not indulge in the dark art of diving

The current Barcelona and Spain (which some say is Barcelona without Messi) teams have raised the bar and taken football to a new level...Barca’s display in the 2011 Champions League final was as near football perfection as it gets

Football writers who cover Arsenal’s home games are always well fed

Certainly not Albania! I remember having a baby beef in Buenos Aires in 1978...it was the biggest baby I have ever seen...I have never eaten a steak as good (or as huge) as this...BA is not the place to be a vegetarian

Well, I didn’t actually eat it – it was in Iran and it was sheep’s eyeballs in yoghurt

On Capri shortly before Italia 90...the ultimate freebie...my room had its own swimming pool

Hotel Tirana in 1993...we were told we may have to share but I didn’t realise my room-mate would be a rat...the rat also complained

As a young lad I always loved reading Hugh McIlvaney (Sunday Times) and still do

The late Peter Jones had a voice and vocabulary that is unsurpassed

For young players to be educated in media relations

Australia v England, the Ashes, in Sydney (with England winning)

Scouting For Moyes by Les Padfield...a little gem

Romanzo Criminale on Sky Arts 1...set in Rome in the 1970s...terrific

My 1966 World Cup final ticket signed by the two captains, Bobby Moore and Uwe Seeler