MY FIRST FOOTBALL REPORT - SQUIRREL ON THE PITCH

I do not make a good spectator. I tend to be as interested in the theatre of the spectators as well as the theatre of the players and that's not the point. But I am very enthusiastic where sport is concerned - any sport but especially team games. And tend to be extremely vocal. I find it unnatural to not shout and cheer while watching sport. A bit like not wanting to dance when you hear wonderful music. My son is mortally embarassed when I watch his matches as I am one of those parents who screams my head off and sort of kicks the ball for him. I once watched at centre court Wimbledon for the semi final and shouted so much (something no one does at Wimbledon unless they let the real fans in and not just the corporate fat cats) that a man moved his son away from my cries of 'ace! ace!. But I am not one to sit quietly and watch anything actually. However I fit in with a football crowd and feel strangely at home. It is one place where their language is even riper than my own. And they shout louder than me, or as loud as me. And the songs they sing. So clever, so colorful, so rude. They should put them up for Eurovision, we would win. As for the game I sort of understand the off side rule only because my son plays the game. I haven't been to a football match since I was twenty. I think it was Gillingham against someone else, not sure who. Today I visited QPR at Loftus Road which I didn't know was literally a stone's throw from BBC TV Centre. Care of Air Asia (the owner of Air Asia also owns QPR) I watched the club draw against Everton. QPR played very well although the guy behind me (who was given a colorful commentary on which player should do with the ball, or where he should put it, had different views but I'd like to see him run up and down that pitch for an hour and a half. I thought they were amazing. What else? There was a squirrel on the pitch for 20 mins of the game which kept chasing the players which was briliant (mainly up QPR end). I thought he was the mascot but no, at half time two blokes dressed as a tiger and a bear came on kicking balls into a goal for charity (I think). Two parrots also made a fly past. I sat next to a football reporter called Matt who gave me the inside track on a few football nobility. Alex Ferguson is an amazing man, but I'm sure a lot of you knew that already. That's not just opinion, that's fact. I'm not a sports reporter but Matt is and he says so. Who won wasn't as important as the entertainment value. But as far as entertainment goes, everyone on and off the pitch was a winner today.