Last Saturday was shaping up to be one of the best days of my life. Freddie, my ten-year-old son, had been chosen by Queens Park Rangers, our football team, as one of five ‘Local Heroes’ to be honoured at half-time — part of the club’s excellent ‘QPR in the Community’ programme. This was on account of his charity work, believe it or not.
After seeing the club’s Game4Grenfell, a pro-celebrity football game organised to raise money for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, Freddie was inspired to organise a football-and-netball tournament for under-11s at Club des Sports in Acton. With the help of his mother, he managed to raise £3,250 for the same cause.
Only one of Freddie’s parents was allowed to accompany him and even though it should have been Caroline she was happy for me to do it. For her, it would have been a bit of a chore, but for me it was a Boys’ Own fantasy. Not only would I get to dine in QPR’s ‘Premier Lounge’ and watch the game in the directors’ box — a treat usually reserved for fans who’ve paid £5,000 for a VIP season ticket — but at half-time I would be able to walk out on to the pitch via the players’ tunnel. With a bit of luck, I might even bump into some members of the team on their way back to the changing room.
The icing on the cake is that we were playing Sunderland. QPR’s current form isn’t anything to write home about — we’re lying 16th out of 24 in the Championship table and just avoiding relegation at the end of the season will be a result — but we’re not doing as badly as Sunderland.
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