The superfan saw a solid ten games during his usual 'busman's holiday' in August. There was an England international, two FA Cup ties and two League Cup ties, one fixture in the Conference Premier, one in the Isthmian Division One North and three in the Wessex Premier.

The Wessex Premier games were all on the same day, Bank Holiday Monday. I saw New Milton Town v Lymington Town at 12.30, Brockenhurst v Hamworthy United at 3.00 and Poole Town v Bournemouth Poppies at 7.45. It was a good day out, despite the chilly conditions. I’ve given up expecting warm sunshine in August.

I was staying in Bournemouth and took the train to New Milton for the first game. Lymington were 2-0 up with four minutes to go, but it finished 2-2 at Fawcetts Field. Then it was a 20-minute walk back to the station for a train to Brockenhurst that was due to leave in 20 minutes. I got it with at least ten seconds to spare.

The Brockenhurst 'Badgers' beat Hamworthy 3-1 with some outstanding goals. In a packed stand at Grigg Lane, as we all kept out of the drizzle, I sat behind a mum with a baby who might well have been 'born yesterday'. At least she didn’t start breast-feeding it. Table-topping Poole turned Bournemouth over 6-0 in the evening to complete the treble.

All three programmes cost a pound. One of them had 33 pages of news; one had none at all. At Tatnam Farm, Poole’s home, I met a friend who’d already been to games at AFC Totton and Gosport Borough that day. Three in a day? That’s pushing it a bit.

After a long day of rushing around, I slept like a baby. Cried all night and wet the bed.

The holiday began with Redbridge v Waltham Forest, a 1-1 draw. I asked the lady selling programmes how much they were and she said "thirty bob" with a tinkling laugh. "You’re not old enough to know what that means", she continued. "Oh yes, I am", I countered. After the England game on the Wednesday, I travelled down to Dorset the next day.

I made my second ever visit to Weymouth’s Wessex Stadium on a passably sunny Saturday and was the first person inside the ground for their Conference Premier fixture with newly promoted Lewes. I thought something was awry when neither team had come out by 2.45 – and Lewes’ away end was completely empty.

Then it was announced that the kick-off time would be delayed for 20 minutes. The visitors’ coach had been held up following an accident on the A31 and predictably the home side tore into the Lewes team from the start, forcing corner after corner. But it was only 2-0 at the end. Then it was another precarious walk back to the station along the motorway, lorries flashing past about a foot away from me.

Back to London on Tuesday to see QPR play Carlisle in the League Cup (4-0). The ground looks really smart now. Only ten quid to sit in the corner of the South Africa Road stand too. Leicester were leading 2-1 at Craven Cottage on Wednesday and thousands were deliriously singing "Can we play you every week?" and "Are you Derby in disguise?" until Fulham scored twice in the last seven minutes to win 3-2. Twenty quid this time, but definitely worth it.

The Barber was on The FA Cup trail at the weekend just gone, watching Gosport Borough v Hartley Wintney (5-0) and Dulwich Hamlet v Broxbourne Borough V&E (1-1). Gosport were denied for 59 minutes and then scored three in six. A great defensive display by V&E (stands for 'Victoria and Elm') and an 85th-minute equaliser earned them a replay on Tuesday.