Have you ever Googled your own name? I don’t make a regular habit of it. This isn’t because I am scared or worried about what I might find. I’ve always had a rule when using the internet, not to post or write anything that you would not want your boss or parents to read. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any skeletons in my online closet.

Yesterday, due to a mix of curiosity and boredom, I did search online for my name. Almost every result related to my Flickr account. I also discovered that I have a namesake, associated with Team Bath – the sports family at Bath University. The connection to Team Bath is very ironic. My ‘Football Fwends’ will understand the irony. If you are not one of my FFs, but want to read up on my “relationship” with Team Bath, have a look at my blog posts from around 2007-2009. Suffice to say, it wasn’t an amicable period, for the two of us.

You’ll be pleased to learn that, while crawling Google, I did find some strange material, relating to my past. I would class my discovery as moderate to severe on the embarrassment scale. I have posted my findings below. They are ‘safe for work’, which should be a relief for most of you, but a disappointment to some of my more peculiar readers.

Here are two emails, which I sent to Leeds United – probably around 2005. Both emails appeared on the football club’s official website, which is why my name is plastered all over the internet.

My emails read like a child’s letter to Phillip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher, in the Broom Cupboard (a reference only those over 30 will get).

Look at the confidence I have in my team. I actually believed Leeds would get promoted! How naive. Little did I know, that almost 15 years later, they would still be stagnating in the doldrums of the Football League. For those of you who wonder why I am so pessimistic about Leeds this season, this failure is the reason!

Over the years, my football club have successfully managed to beat every piece of optimism and hope, I ever had, out of me. Thank you, Leeds United.

“Rio and Robbo” – Oh my God! I was a chav.

“Blackie” (eugh). That ended well…
“gaffer” – pass me a sick bucket.