They're still in the game, and they're trying to get back into it.

I get on so well with lots of Scots, and a man who had a big influence on my career and was a great mate, Johnny Paton, was Scottish. But I became a hate figure in Scotland because of my views on football. That always made me chuckle, and it still does.

I played a trial game for Reading against Brentford. Then the coach told me that they couldn't afford to take me on. So I went to see Brentford. I couldn't believe it when they signed me - they were in the league above Reading.

There was a time in my life when I was travelling to football grounds five days a week. Combined with TV work and the hours spent driving to different venues as well as watching the game, it took up an enormous chunk of my life. But I'm getting older, and those days are long gone.

I've been a director and chairman of three good, modest clubs - Coventry, Charlton and Fulham - and the abuse you get can be cruel and shameful. I've had a wonderful life and wouldn't change a moment of it professionally - except that I should never have become a director.

I was trying to find a way so I wouldn't have to get a real job. I found out that I could find a way to tell stories and make people laugh. And that was it.