I HAVE enjoyed the festive period but football-wise it has been a disaster.

Our Boxing Day clash with Truro fell victim to the weather, which, for Tiverton Town Football Club, is a financial disaster.

The income that we generate from that fixture is normally the best of the season. Although we rearrange the fixture, the income from that same game will be so much less.

We then travelled to Chippenham on Saturday only to be thwarted at half-time by the frosty condition of the pitch. Although I sympathise with Chippenham, who had made every effort to get the game on, any type of frost on a football pitch, to me, is a non-starter. You could see in the earliest exchanges that the conditions were very difficult. In those situations players' safety is paramount and the decision to abandon was the right one but, to my mind, we should never have started.

There were no shocks in the FA Cup on Saturday but there certainly was on Sunday, with League One leaders Leeds turning over the mighty Manchester United. I thought the game was a throwback to the '70s and '80s where tackles were flying in left, right and centre. How Wes Brown stayed on the pitch was amazing — most referees would have had him off no question. But, to be fair, the referee was consistent which made for a great cup tie.

Well done Leeds but it's all over for them now, with the fourth round draw sending them to White Hart Lane to play Spurs!

This Friday will be a special day for me — to meet the top man in your profession is an honour in itself. I am so looking forward to the experience. I just hope Man Utd beat Man City this week so Sir Alex is in a good mood. Can you imagine what he would have been like on Monday morning after the Leeds result?

In next week's column I will tell you how I got on with the great man and hopefully give you an insight into the training and facilities of a top Premier League club.