HORNE OF PLENTY | THE ALEX HORNE COLUMN

The first of our occasional series of columns

As a special Christmas treat, we’re delighted to bring you the first of an occasional series of columns penned by the ultra-talented and award-winning Alex Horne. Over to you, Alex…

I am the father of three boys. I am also one of three sons. Remarkably, I think, they all want the same Christmas presents as I did when I was their age thirty years ago; football stuff.

It has always been my happy place, football. I’m an optimistic fan, someone who enjoys the wins and doesn’t get too weighed down by poor results, so it’s something I can turn to when I want escape from real life. I can talk about football with anyone. I love talking about it with my kids and my dad.

Christmas 1993, I received a Liverpool home kit with Carlsberg as the sponsor. They’d just moved on from my favourite, Candy, and the back was plain. No player’s names back then for me. This year, my youngest son got the grey away kit from the same year from some retro kit website. I wish I’d kept my old one.

I’ve bought my brother-in-law a kit for Christmas this year too; a third kit of the club I now support alongside Liverpool. I think this is the first time they’ve sold a third kit and it’s partly because I’m in the weird privileged position of being on the board of directors as well as sponsoring the club shirts.

Taskmaster is a TV show I make on Channel 4. It’s also the word emblazoned across the front of my godfather’s new shirt and a thousand others that we’ve managed to sell this year. Never before have so many Chesham United fans worn their club’s colours and it is a source of immense pride to see them on match days.

My boys have their own Chesham United shirts from their junior teams, all with Taskmaster printed on them too. Just like in the 90s, we don’t have players’ names on our backs. It’s all about the club and, to put it simply, I think it’s brilliant.

We don’t get up to Anfield very often. But since we moved to Chesham 15 years ago, we’ve gradually fallen in love with the club, the ground and the supporters. We now go to every home game and my kids care as much about Chesham’s League position (currently top of the table!) as Liverpool’s (currently second).

So here’s to every sort of football fan. I hope you can all find some common ground over Christmas, get at least one result you want and bond over the bad ones if that’s the way it goes.

Football rolls on. Before I know it, my kids will be passing on their shirts to their kids and we’ll all be down at the Meadow watching Chesham take on Liverpool in the FA Cup third round in January 2053.

Merry Christmas one and all!

ALEX