In my last offering for this venerable organ I lamented the woeful performance of my football team, and they’ve got worse since. So I’ve got every reason to lose my love for the game, but something’s happened to rekindle it. It started with a text I sent an old friend of mine who is now in Liberia. Ged’s from Consett in County Durham. He’s worked for Cafod in his time but is now with the charity Mary’s Meals. He’s also a devotee of Newcastle United.

I asked him if he still loved the game. While he shares my despair at the monstrous monetisation of the whole business, he had this to say: “I met a 14-year-old kid who wants to be Howard Webb so that balances things up.”