David Hamilton writes:

I`ve always been a sports fan. Whenever I`ve watched an exciting sport, I`ve always been inspired to do it myself.

As a boy, my Auntie Gertie took me to Wembley Stadium to see the Wembley Lions speedway team. It was thrilling, watching the motorcycle gladiators under the floodlights. Years later, Ed Stewart and I were invited to do the announcing at Wembley and were talked into taking part in a race in the last match of the season.  While I tore round the track, I commentated on the race for Late Night Extra on Radio 2. Afterwards, I had even more respect for the guys who do it for a living.

In my teens, watching my local club, Fulham, I wanted to be a professional footballer. I didn`t make it, but after I came into broadcasting, I did get to play on League grounds in charity matches with and against some of Britain's finest footballers.

Actually, Graham Dene and I have something in common. We were both carried off a football  pitch by  Barry Fry after being injured. My injury came in a match at Maidstone where Barry was the manager. I was 50 at the time, had played in charity matches for many years but this turned out to be my last game. I was kicked on the knee and in quite a lot of pain. Barry laid me on the bench in the dressing room, put an ice pack on my knee and told me to bend it.  

"What happens if I can`t?", I asked him.

"In that case you`ve broken it", he said. I thought about all the work I had coming up and my heart started racing.   Luckily, I could bend it and Barry said, "Now get back on the pitch and run it off".

It took me a while to recover from the injury and I decided to give up playing soccer and opt for a non-contact sport.   Pals like Pete Murray and Jess Conrad suggested golf. I had played it before with my father but didn`t seem to have a great aptitude for it.

I decided instead to go for tennis which took up less time but involved quite a lot of running around.

I went on tennis holidays with some friends and then graduated to playing in celebrity tournaments in venues like Queen`s Club, Vanderbilt Club, Beckenham and the wonderful lawn tennis club at Frinton-on-Sea.

It was great to have the chance to play alongside tennis pros like Mark Cox and  Andrew Castle.

I was playing so much tennis at one time that I foolishly challenged Piers Morgan to a singles match without thinking he was 6 inches taller and about 20 years younger than me. The following day pictures appeared in The Sun newspaper of Piers looking triumphant and me looking knackered.   He beat me 6-2, 8-1. To be honest, in the second set I was lucky to get one.

My tennis days are over now but I love going to Wimbledon every year where I usually bump into Cliff Richard.   I did play in a celebrity tournament with him. Now there`s a good player.   The nearest I got to playing at Wimbledon was at the David Lloyd Club in Raynes Park, a couple of miles away..

That`s not our David Lloyd, by the way.

Speak soon,

David