Early riser? I’ll often be wide awake at 4.30am. The elderly dogs, cocker spaniel Lottie and jackapoo Meg, need to go out to the garden. I go back to bed for a few hours after that. We live in a very rural area outside Winchester – it’s perfect for animals and we are suckers for them. As well as the dogs, we officially have seven cats, but really eight, as a stray has found its way into the house.
Who’s at home? My wife, Liz. I’ve got two boys who spend a lot of time at home: one is a journalist in the north-east, the other is a newly qualified teacher in Sussex. And my daughter is at uni in Manchester. The draw for them is to be fed and have clothes washed.
What’s for breakfast? I’m really boring: toast, butter and a cup of builder’s tea.
Any exercise? I might go for a jog or a walk. I enjoy a trip to the garden centre. The local one does everything from egg poachers to booze, they’ve got goats and a falconry.
Sundays growing up? Very different. There would be Sunday lunch, although we called it dinner. Depending on the time of year, it would be nonstop football in the mornings or nonstop cricket. After that we were all packed off to the Baptist church for Sunday school, where I was, and always have been, agnostic.
Do you get to the north-east much? Not a massive amount any more. I am president of Hartlepool United FC, so when I go, it is normally to watch them, but I tend to see them away from home.
Do you watch sport? It is pretty much an obligation to watch football. I watch sport with a notepad by my side, which is a bit sad, isn’t it?
Sunday evening? By 5.30pm I’m heading to London, as I’m on breakfast radio. I’ll sit in the hotel bar and prep for the day. I won’t have more than two beers – I know the alarm is going off at 4.30am.
Jeff Stelling’s memoir Saturday Afternoon Fever is published by Headline at £22. Buy it for £19.80 from guardianbookshop.com
