There’s a way of pulling a face to express a mixture of bafflement, amusement and some scorn. I see it on the faces of those who ask me one or both of the following questions: Why are you so into football? And how can you believe in God? I’m asked those questions a lot.

I’ve got stock answers that sometimes elicit a sympathetic nod. But essentially it’s a pointless exercise. In both cases, it can’t be explained. You either get football and/or God, or you don’t. In Barcelona a year ago I met a priest who had been an eminent physicist at a famous American university. He told me he’d decided to become a priest having scientifically worked out to his satisfaction that God exists and Jesus Christ is our saviour. Heaven knows (pun intended) what formulae he deployed. Plainly it’s not for me to judge but I do wonder if he was missing the point. Surely it’s about what you feel, not what you know? I never asked him whether he liked football.