When I was 13 or 14 Rod use to take me to see West Ham on a fairly regular basis. I would go in the kids entrance and then meet him inside. One match against Tottenham there were big queues outside for the adults but not for the kids. Rod was not sure he would get in so he said to wait for him at the bottom of the stairs on the other side of the turnstiles.

I got in quickly and waited for Rod to get through. After a while I heard loud cheers and knew the game had kicked off. I waited longer then heard the the crowd going crazy. I ran up the stairs and saw a penalty had been awarded for West Ham. Being small I pushed my way through to stand near the front. We scored and the crowd was in ecstasy. We were singing I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles and all kinds of other songs. The game continued and I got caught up in the excitement forgetting where I was meant to be.

After a while the ref blew for half time so I made my way back to the stairs to look for Rod. He wasn't there so I stood around during half time in case he came. When I heard the cheering start up again I went back to the game. It was a good match but as the game went on I was getting worried that I hadn't found Rod especially since I hadn't waited where I said I would. The match finished in a draw and I made my way to the exit.

As I left I saw Rod waiting outside. He didn't look very happy and asked me what happened. I said the game started so I went up. He said the match had sold out but when he got to the front he said to the turnstile guy he had to meet me at the stairs so the two of them came in to find me. I wasn't there so the guy made Rod leave. He waited for the whole match outside while I was watching the game. If I had waited then Rod would have been allowed in. I felt really guilty and thought Rod was going to be angry and never take me to West Ham again. But he wasn't. He said don't worry just wait where we agreed next time, patted me on the head and took me home. I never saw him properly angry in all the time I spent with him.