Watching the Grand National on TV last week reminded me of the days when our dressing room at The Dell would be populated by so-called horse racing experts.

They were the likes of Mick Channon and company and they would be telling everyone who would win these races.

Now and again a couple of players would say they would be the bookmakers. There was a limit of the amount put on of course but some of the bets were hilarious and picked for various reasons – mainly the names.

The best part was if and when an outsider won the race people like Mick and the other experts would want to go home rather than be scoffed at for the rest of the day.

I have related before how after a friendly match down in Brighton, I allowed some of them to take me to a race course and I never let them forget I backed more winners than all of them put together and I eventually told them my system – eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

The reason I am rambling on about this at the moment is because I wondered what sort of odds any bookmakers would give me with an initial connected to football. It would be the letter L.

Why? Look at the top four divisions and the National League.

As we speak Liverpool lead the Premier League. Leeds United are second top in a promotion spot in the Championship. Luton Town are top of League One. Lincoln City head League Two. Leyton Orient are well ahead in the National League.

Bearing in mind some of the leagues have only one club with that initial in them I would expect good odds.

Let’s wait and see what happens over the next few weeks. It could well be that I wish I had put a bet on.

Getting back to reality, undoubtedly the battle at the top of the Premier League is between Liverpool and Manchester City and whereas I usually say the league is 6-8-6 it has become 2-4-8-6.

Unfortunately, our eyes at Southampton are not on whether we can hit that top six at the moment but to get out of the bottom six.

In reality we should be comfortably a midtable team and I think the recent results against Tottenham and Brighton have given us that five-point gap away from Cardiff.

With due respect to Neil Warnock, who has had some refereeing decisions go against him recently, I think it’s only a matter of days before they join Huddersfield and Fulham in getting relegated.

Looking at the Championship, I think clubs like Leeds United would be made welcome in the top flight because many fans have memories of their great days under Don Revie and they have passionate support but we shall see.

The results at Wembley bringing Watford back to their first Cup final since 1984 reminded me of the occasion after they had lost that game. I had finished my TV piece and was walking along a corridor when a gentleman walked towards me and was instantly recognisable as Elton John. The tears were dropping off his cheeks.

He is lifetime president at Watford, he has been totally dedicated to the club all his life and his name and pictures are all around the ground, along with Graham Taylor. I am sure he will be looking forward to this visit and hoping his tears are ones of joy.

However, coming up against Man City it will be extremely difficult.

I recently got a call from a young gentleman with an American accent and it turned out he was one of the two sons of Gordon Hill, who was a famous referee in the old days.

Sadly, the son was letting me know his father had passed away at the age of 90.

The reason he rang was because he remembered when he, his brother and parents were emigrating to America they spent their last night at our home and I took them down to the docks to get on the ship the next morning.

There were lots of tears, especially from Gordon’s wife.

He was off to Florida and had a job with one of the new clubs, the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

He was famous all around soccer camps in America when he invented the saying ‘soccer is a kick in the grass.’

He will be well remembered for being a bit of a character as a referee.

Gordon had been a headmaster in the West Midlands and after retirement became an artist, but the players like Peter Osgood would say to him ‘what a decision that was.’

He would bide his time and when they shot over the crossbar he would run alongside them then and say ‘what an awful shot that was.’

Happy days and he will be sadly missed.