Pace Pumas, St Francis Rangers, Baddesley Knights, Hythe Boxers, Warsash Wasps, Sarisbury Sparks.

All team names that put a smile on my face to this day, writes SIMON PEACH.

My dream from a young age was to become a sports journalist, with a lack of talent making it clear I would not cut it as a footballer.

So, as a wide-eyed 16-year-old, I sent a letter to the Daily Echo enquiring about work experience.

I will forever be grateful for whatever they saw in the green kid with an inability to grasp the use of apostrophes.

For two years I wrote about youth football in the area, with my weekly ‘Mud Larks’ column in the Echo and round-up of the Eastleigh and District Mini Soccer League in The Sports Pink.

This time traipsing around muddy fields of Southampton whetted the appetite and allowed me to hone skills that I now put to use in slightly more salubrious surroundings.

Less than 11 years after filing my final EDMSL round-up, I now work as Chief Football Writer for the Press Association - the national news agency of the UK and Ireland.

From the pitches of Southampton Sports Centre and Wide Lane, I now spend most of my time at Wembley or Old Trafford as the role primarily sees me cover England and Manchester United at home and abroad.

There is rarely much downtime, especially with United - a club whose sheer size smacks you round the chops when you first get there.

There is precious little time to take a breath, with the last few days alone seeing me go from Blackburn to St Etienne as Wayne Rooney edged towards the exit only to stay, ex-Saint Luke Shaw’s uneasy situation worsened and Jose Mourinho fired off his latest barbed comments.

It is a fascinating chapter in the club’s history as United finally attempt to move on from Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, with League Cup glory this weekend seen as an important block on which to build.

The match marks a year in my role covering United and - due to heading to the Olympics and the like - will be my first Wembley final in the job.

The day could not feel any more fitting for me: United are the team I cover, Saints the team I support.

I had a season ticket for many years at St Mary’s, coached within the club’s community scheme and covered them for the Press Association.

I was in the away end in Milan and Prague, and get to games whenever work allow.

Thankfully work and leisure combine at Wembley - a match I have spent the last month fielding questions from puzzled colleagues, friends and family about.

‘Why are you not going as a fan?’ asks everyone, seemingly forgetting that covering my boyhood team in a major cup final is a dream come true.

Keeping my cool will be hard in the unbiased surroundings of the Wembley press box, but writing a match report might help channel the adrenaline.

It will be quite a day and, while wearing my objective hat work-wise, I would love nothing more than to witness a repeat of 1976.