Of Daps, Stingers And Chucky Pigs

Having finally finished the Philip Pullman trilogy I was reading I am at last getting stuck into one of my Christmas presents - Ian Holloway's autobiography.

I have only just started it but it looks as if it is going to be readable.

Being of West Country origin myself, there are already some references that have brought a smile to my face and have made me realise we have quite a lot in common.

For example, he, like me, calls plimsolls 'daps'. So named, apparently, because the factory making them used to have a sign outside saying "Dunlop Athletic Plimsoles". As a child I was encouraged to say 'pumps' because 'daps' was deemed somewhat common in 1970s Gloucestershire. Being the rebel that I am, though, I still call them 'daps' today (only please don't tell my Mum!).

And those of you who read Ollie's BBC column on a regular basis will know that there has been considerable debate about his nickname of "Stinger", following his explanation that he was given the nickname because that is what he calls stinging nettles. I'm definitely a 'stinger' girl I have to say.

Ollie and I are a similar age (although I have more hair than him). Which means that I would almost certainly have seen him playing live during my very brief earlier dalliance with football in the early 1980s when I used to occasionally go to watch Bristol Rovers with my then boyfriend. I can't pretend I remember it though.

Spooky then that with all this in common our paths should cross again with a mutual interest in the fate of Leicester City Football Club.

Of course, whilst I am not suggesting that he is only financially motivated, Ollie does get paid for loving The Foxes. Whilst I do it completely for free.

I wonder if he calls woodlice 'chucky pigs' like me.