Saturday’s Trophy match, in the Third Round Qualifying, featured Hayes and Yeading United and Witham Town at Church Road. Hayes and Yeading amalgamated in the summer and it was the new club’s first tie in the 38-year-old competition.

On a terminally grey November afternoon, the home side were 3-0 up at half-time and should really have won by a bigger margin than the final score of 4-2. Dad was there when the attendance record of 15,000 was set in 1951; on Saturday they had 132. It was my 50th different ground this season.

In the Second Round of The Sunday Cup I’d seen St Andrews of the Hendon and District League win 4-2, with a sub scoring a hat-trick in the last five minutes. Saints’ Third Round tie at the weekend, again at Edgware, was even more eventful…with seven goals, two penalties (both scored) and two red cards.

There was extra time too, plus a lot of stoppage time at the end of that, so the ref blew for time about three hours after he’d blown for it all to start. I watched most of the game with Peter Clayton, FA Council representative for Middlesex, and Steve Clark, Head of Competitions at The FA. We made up most of the crowd.

My first match at Brentford was a Fourth Division fixture against Aldershot in 1967 that finished 1-1. I stood at the open end in the pouring rain. That end is now covered and, yes, it was still raining last night. A desperately poor Bees side was knocked out of The FA Cup 2-0 by Luton Town in a First Round replay and, worryingly, the attendance was just 2,643.

There was one crazy minute in the second half. A Luton player was booked for 'diving' but limped off, the Brentford ‘keeper was booked for petulantly throwing the ball onto the ground and another Luton player mis-hit a volley into the ground about a foot away from him but the ball bounced up and over the ‘keeper for a clinching second goal.

I read in the programme that a Brazilian club, Goiandiva Esporte Clube, has a right-winger who is 85-years-old. The team-mates of 'Tercao', as he is known, say he is a greedy player who never passes the ball. He claims he can’t hear them calling because he removes his hearing aid before matches.