This weekend saw the Gillingham fans grace the Soccer Am screens and we were there to document the whole occasion.
Hastily arranged, I’ll give you a run down of the whole experience and see if I can give you a sense of what it was like to be on TV with seven other Gillingham fans.
Having supported the side for more years than I care to imagine, given the chance to sit in the Luther Blissett stand alongside seven other like minded fans was too good of an opportunity to turn down.
With the screening not set to start until 10am on Saturday morning, six of us met up at Gillingham station on Friday evening – that being myself, Jack Essen, Sean Moore, Greig Pender, Jordan Birch and Ben Wainwright.
Ben was the lucky man that had been to Priestfield to collect all the new kit, so he looked like a pack horse when we boarded the train to Victoria.
Met by Ken Flanagan at Rochester, it soon became apparent to Jack that he’d left his ticket to the AFC Wimbledon game back at home. Cue a quick phone to call to his better half and it was a case of panic over – not before a ribbing from the lads.
We arrived in London about 8:30pm and given it was Friday night and we had a bit of time to kill, it seemed only right to find the nearest watering hole at the station where our number was made up to eight with Matt Turvey joining us after his trip across from Aldershot.
After a swift drink and yet more confusion as to where the cabs were meant to be picking us up, we were soon on out way to our hotel in Brentford.
With bags dumped in our respective rooms (paid for by Sky may I add), we only had to walk fifty yards over the road to the local pub where we once again settled our pre-match nerves with the odd shandy or two.
This is where the evening gets a little hazy for one or two of us. Somehow we ended up back at the hotel and I remember sitting in bed at some early hour eating cold pizza. Just the tonic you need before a TV appearance.
Up and about by 7:30am proved to be a little tricky for a few of us, however the magic of paracetamol and a full English breakfast seemed to kick start the lads and we were on our way to the Sky studios by 8:15am.
Met in security by Ash, one of the lads fans see on their TV screens, we were taken over to the studio where the show would be filmed and given a run down on what would happen over the next few hours. This is where we got explicit instructions on what we could and couldn’t say or do on TV.
Needless to say nudity and swearing were off the agenda, and a few of the club’s more popular songs had to be put on the back burner for the day, to comply with the early hour of the broadcast!
Getting kitted up into the Gillingham red and blue, we felt like we were going to be playing a game, however it was soon to become apparent that a few of us were the wrong side of being a professional footballer and lacked the required skills!
Then came the waiting game as we were left to kick our heels and watch the world go by. Seeing the St Louis Rams cheerleaders come into the building did something for the morale amongst the lads though!
After a few run throughs as to where we should be standing, how we had to run into the studio and how not to get whacked around the head by the camera out in the car park, it was almost time to leave our dignity behind and do what football fans do best when on a TV screen – make complete and utter fools of ourselves – or so I have been told by so called friends since!
Now, running, waving, smiling and doing high-fives is not easy! Especially when like me you are getting far too close to 40 for comfort. Buoyed on by the floor manager, we were possibly a little too enthusiastic at some points and a little bit caught in the headlights at others.
The next two hours went by like a blur. I remember guests coming and going, including former Manchester United defender Mikael
Silvestre, comedian Daniel Sloss and X-factor hopeful Kye Sones. There were sketches too, however all our focus was on how many goals we would score at the end of the programme.
For those of you that haven’t been inside a TV studio before, it is far less like you would imagine. It is half the size I thought it would be and nothing like the bits you see on the TV itself.
Ad breaks came and went with the production staff relaxed about what was going on despite one of the guests not bothering to turn up. Seeing the likes of Rocket and Tubes go about their “work” was interesting and some of us might wonder how they steal a living having such a good laugh!
Ever the consumate professional, Helen Chamberlain keeps the show together whilst Max Rushden had proven to be an adequate long term replacement to Tim Lovejoy.
After some stick from Helen about her side Torquay United having beaten The Gills 2-1, a swift response of “We are top of the league” restored the natural order of things.
Buoyed on by an enthusiastic routine by the St Louis Rams cheerleaders who looked a lot colder than we were, it was then time for us to step up to the plate and see if we could poke a football through different sized holes.
For those of you that don’t watch the show, it looks a lot easier on TV – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
Greig got us off to the perfect start and two more from Sean gave us a respectable three goals – taking us into the Championship apparently. For me, I think my two attempts had more of a chance of scaring a few worms. Needless to say when I checked my phone later my mates had given me a bit of stick about my lack of footballing skills.
It was then time for our farewell piece with us lined up alongside the cheerleaders for the parting shot – someone had to do it!
Midday came far too quickly and after some pictures with the guests, the staff and of course the cheerleaders, our day was over and we were on our way.
For most of the lads it was on to Kingston to see The Gills go on and beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0. The perfect end to what can only be described as a pretty surreal twenty four hours.
Given the chance to do it all again, the only thing I’d change would be to make sure I take my shooting boots!
What a day – thanks lads!