Every football fan knows that the first real game they ever go to is always an amazing and unforgettable game. For me, it was a glorious sunny day when Aberdeen beat St. Johnstone 5-0 in the Scottish League Cup, including a hat-trick by Jimmy 'Jinky' Smith who went on to be sold to Newcastle for a then Scotland-to-England record sum of ?100,000 (I've just been checking and it might have been 3-0 in 1966, but anyway).

Last night, I finally got to take the kid (Apoa, Kiloh and Aidan) to their first game, thanks to drastically reduced ticket prices caused by the decision not to play most of the first team in the League Cup. I was worried that I'd let them down by taking them to a League Cup game against lower division opposition with not too many star players on the pitch (although who knows whether there was a future Beckham on the pitch?)

With five minutes to go, Arsenal were up 1-0 and things were petering out when Apoa needed the loo. While she was there, Rotherham equalised and we ended up with extra-time and a penalty shootout (at our end) in which everybody from each team, including the keepers, took a penalty and they had to start again before we finally won 9-8. It was half past eleven and the kids were passing out on their doorsteps when we finally got home. Pretty good value at 5 quid a ticket!