IN HIS column in last week’s Tablet, Adrian Chiles tells how when he was in Australia for a few weeks recently, his team (we all know who that is by now, don’t we?) went on a run of a couple of wins and a draw. Since he got back, they lost at home to lowly Wigan.

Fans will be delighted by the news that he has agreed to join six other pilgrims who for just over two weeks will be slipping into backpacks and hiking boots, staying in basic hostels, and walking a largely untrodden route over the mountains from Belgrade to Istanbul.

Adrian’s companions will include former politician Edwina Currie, a lapsed Jew; Olympian Fatima Whitbread, a practicing Christian; fellow television presenter Amar Latif, a Muslim; and comedian Dom Joly, a confirmed atheist. Their journey will pass through parts of Europe where communities have been torn apart by religious violence before winding up at the magnificent Süleymaniye mosque.