I WAS as pleased as anyone to see Southampton came through their cup tie at Sheffield United.

Nowadays it is called the EFL Cup, which in our day was the League Cup.

I am not sure it is taken seriously now as it was in our day, bearing in mind we actually got to Wembley in the final. But thanks to Mr Brian Clough, bless him, we lost 3-2.

But it was just behind the FA Cup in its fame and importance. I am not sure about this EFL thing, because, as was proved in our game, if it is a draw at the end they take penalties until there is a result.

Why do they not have a replay in the following week or two? Surely that would help the away team financially, that has fought for the draw. And give both sets of supporters the chance to see a cup tie.

As an example, say a third or fourth division club has drawn Liverpool or Manchester United away from home and they scrape a draw, wouldn’t it be wonderful for their supporters to have one of these big clubs on their little grounds for a replay?

But I presume it was brought in with the help of the big clubs, who were probably complaining that when they qualify to play in Europe, they’ve got too many games. Even though their squads are normally about 30 players. And so best to have penalties rather than replays.

If that’s true, it just shows how much say the big six or seven have. I don’t know what the clubs or other supporters think. But I think replays, as they are in the FA Cup, should be involved with the EFL Cup, call it what they want, as with any cup tie.

Daily Echo:

On Monday, I once again hosted the annual Celebrity Golf Day, raising funds for Autism Hampshire.

It was held at Bramshaw Golf Club in the New Forest.

Sadly, last year’s event was cancelled due to the pandemic, but it was good to be back again this week, for what was our 16th event of this kind.

I read there are apparently 18,000 people with autism in Hampshire, which shows just how important fundraisers like this are.

Autism Hampshire really appreciate the golf day, as it represents one of their biggest earners of the year.

Local businesses from across Hampshire entered teams to play in the event, with each allocated a celebrity guest to join them on the day.

They included Matt Le Tissier, who has played in every year we have held the golf day.

After the 18-hole tournament, comedian and impressionist Mike Osman hosted the gala evening, which included a raffle.

Overall, the event raised a brilliant £15,000, including £2,000 coming from a guitar signed by Brian May of Queen fame.

The money raised from this particular event will go towards a new app, specially designed to support adults on the autism spectrum.

I’ve been involved with the golf day since the beginning, 16 years ago, but have taken a bit of a step back from the organising side of things in recent times.

I’d like to thank Mike and Matt. They did all the ringing round and a lot of the work that I would normally do, they took it on this year. After 16 years it is time to ease off a bit, but keep involved because it is very popular.

It’s good for the ex-players, like David Peach, to get together and have a bit of a laugh and remember the old days.

Mike, who has been the star performer every year, came in as Boris Johnson this time to conduct the auction and did a brilliant job of raising funds for the charity.

I don’t play in the golf anymore, I just go there for the presentation and this year I received recognition myself for my 16 years involved in the event.

So, thanks to everybody involved for another great day, and here’s to next year doing it all again.