Hoping Bradford City trip to Sutton runs smoothly for me

But I, along with the small army of travelling City fans I'm sure, am rather looking forward to it.

The football side of it definitely, as for whatever reason, whether it's visiting teams using spoiler tactics or the players allowing fan frustrations to get to them, the Bantams have been far better on the road than at Valley Parade of late.

Mansfield Town was an excellent away win on Tuesday night, and would surely have been more comfortable had Matty Platt not been sent off midway through the second half.

And the game at Gander Green Lane was one of City's highlights of last season, as they thumped a quality play-off chasing side 4-1.

Fun in the sun for City's fans at Sutton last season. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

One of the best things for me about a weekend away game though is the, um, extra-curricular activities.

I'll be working hard of course, that live blog, match report, player ratings guide and Mark Hughes interview won't write themselves.

Nor will I be six pints deep like some come the 3pm kick-off (I could try that but I can't imagine my editor would be over the moon).

But I still have some lovely plans, with people I've not seen for years.

My former university housemate lives down there, and we're going to catch up for the first time since April 2019 over a couple of pints in Brixton on Saturday night.

Then, on the Sunday lunchtime, once I've finished my work, and watched England beat Pakistan, hopefully, in the T20 World Cup final, I'm heading back up towards King's Cross station.

I am off to meet a friend for lunch who I haven't seen since December 2015, during my year abroad in France, so that will be an even bigger throwback.

All of that is the plan anyway, but based on my previous sporting experiences in London, I'm expecting at least one thing to go wrong.

I had never been to the capital until I was 18, but after successfully auditioning for TV quiz show Pointless with my dad, we headed down there for filming in March 2013.

A celebrity special was being recorded on our first day, so the show's runners came into the green room and told the pair of us we could go and explore London for the afternoon, as we would not be needed until the following day.

Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden were suggested as tourist destinations for us, but dad is a massive Spurs fan (having loved Glenn Hoddle as a kid), so we made the decision to head for White Hart Lane.

Dad, and Michael Dawson, outside White Hart Lane in March 2013. (Image: NQ Staff.)

At the station, dad excitedly told the ticket attendant how excited he was to be going to Tottenham, but I couldn't help but notice the menacing figure behind him.

He followed us on to the platform with his big West Ham United rucksack, swigging from a can of JD and Coke.

"Are you a Spurs fan?" he asked dad. "I f***ing hate Spurs."

Not ideal, especially when he told us of his past as part of the Hammers' Inter City Firm, a notorious hooligan group.

Careful not to make any missteps in our conversation, we somehow managed to gain the West Ham man's respect, but we declined his offer to get off at the same station as him, and were quite happy to never see him again.

Dad made a bold move to try and sneak in to the ground, but that was never going to work, but I could see how emotional he was just getting to be around the stadium.

And I am determined to ensure we can go and see a match at the incredible Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later this season, a decade after that trip to the Lane.

Five years after that, and this is kind of cheating in terms of a sporting trip, but I just wanted to show off about being on The Chase as well.

Nothing specifically sporting about that trek to London in October 2018, but thankfully for a sports reporter, having started at the T&A eight months earlier, I successfully answered questions on Ukranian football, England Test cricketers and wheelchair rugby, even if I was caught out on Kylie and Jason songs, 70s sitcoms and world seas.

I squeezed into the final chase but the Dark Destroyer prevented me from winning a 50/50 share of the £10,000 prize pot with 12 seconds to go.

Yes, I've been on The Chase, no, I didn't win any money. (Image: NQ Staff.)

If that was tenuous, my third and final sporting trip to London wasn't, with that coming in December 2018.

After working with the Lord's Taverners charity on a story earlier in the year, which involved speaking to former Yorkshire and England bowler Ajmal Shahzad, I was invited to their annual Christmas dinner.

It was an early start, and somehow my Grand Central train encountered a fault near Brighouse, whereby if it went at over 20mph, its horn would not stop blaring.

After hopping on to a replacement train in Wakefield, before being told I wasn't allowed on it, I finally made it down to London, having already missed the fishcake starter.

But my foul mood improved when I was plonked next to none other than Yorkshire and England legend Darren Gough, who proceeded to talk my head off all afternoon, and ply me with white wine.

It will not shock you to know that Darren Gough can be a mischievous fellow. (Image: NQ Staff.)

That meant a bit of a hairy interview with former Test bowler Derek Pringle, with us both having enjoyed the hospitality a little too much.

A lovely meal, selfies with Gough and Mark Lawrenson, followed by a fruitless chase of famously media-unfriendly Baildon resident Matthew Hoggard for an interview and bumping into my quiz show host hero Chris Tarrant, and I was away to get my train home, a little unsteady on my feet of course.

A mixed bag of London trips then, so let's hope for a smooth ride this weekend.

Oh, and three points for the Bantams of course!