Pompey v Arsenal and the genius that was Thierry Henry | Rick Jackson

Pompey and Saints were left and two ex-Pompey players, Teddy Sheringham and Glen Johnson, were doing the draw.

Thankfully we got a home tie against Arsenal. Memories flooded back of one of my top Fratton Park moments.

The last time we played Arsenal in the cup they destroyed us 5-1, and we gave a standing ovation to each player substituted off, one of whom was Thierry Henry.

Afterwards, he put on Matty Taylor’s shirt and applauded us as we sang ‘Henry is a Pompey fan’. Special memories; a special cup.

From daze to dazzling: A morning in the life of a DJ

A day in the life of a breakfast show presenter starts rather early, as the alarm goes off at 4.30am.

I sit on the edge of the bed in the pitch black in a daze.

I leave my clothes on the landing the night before so I don’t wake my wife.

I jump into the shower. I find this does help remove some of those cobwebs.

I wander downstairs, find my keys, pat the dog, of whom I’m jealous, all curled up warm and peaceful in her basket, and grab an egg from the fridge for my porridge at work.

The drive to work kind of just happens.

It’s generally quiet apart from the odd runner, one of whom runs in the road. I think he’s mad.

Arriving at work, a couple of our news team are already compiling bulletins and I gather our cereal bowls. Soon, porridge is on and those egg whites are added for extra protein.

It’s quite rare for a radio station the size of Wave 105 not to have a producer for the breakfast show.

I do this myself, from compiling all content, to answering phone calls and sorting out the details of competition winners.

I subscribe to a couple of ‘cutting services’ which provide some news stories and other bits of interest which may turn into conversational starters, but most of it comes from me.

You see, for me, observing and talking about your life works best.

It’s OK having some fun with a news story or talk about someone in the news, but those relatable lifestyle stories always work the best I feel.

I love listeners phoning in or texting, responding to those stories with some of their own.

They are pure gold for a presenter like me.

It’s nice to know I’m not the only fool to lose a child in Marks & Spencer, cut their own hair or fall asleep on public transport and start snoring.

By 9am the show is over.

I prepare for the next day then I’m off home.

At that point my next job begins, daddy daycare.

By 8pm, the kids are in bed... and so am I!

On with the boots again for some classic ball-tonking

I haven’t played in years, but on Sunday Freddie went to a sixth birthday party and it was a football party on the leisure centre’s artificial pitches.

It didn’t take long for we dads to notice an empty pitch and grab a spare ball.

Soon, we were all ‘tonking’ the ball as hard as we could at the goal.

A couple of passes to set someone up, then a hammer shot aimed at the goal which seldom went into it.

A couple of efforts even left our pitch and I believe are still in orbit somewhere!

We all had a great time and now the plan is to hire a pitch. Not for a competitive match, we are too old and unfit for that, but for more ball ‘tonking’!