lost that loving feeling - The Gallery - As seen on TV

It was two years ago that the possibility of an appearance on Sky Sports’ cult Saturday morning show Soccer AM was first raised on the Forest Banter forum, so it was a bit of a surprise when we were finally offered the chance to be on the programme as ‘Fans of the Week’ – nevertheless, eight forum regulars jumped at the chance to humiliate themselves on national television.

Arriving in London from various locations around the UK, an excitable bunch of Forest fans congregated at King’s Cross station last Friday night before being picked up by Sky’s drivers who took us to the hotel. The crew for this particular mission was as follows: Andy Cross, Alan Fisher (aka Winnits), Rich Fisher, Dan Hawkins, Mike ‘Hobo’ Brown, Mike Finlay (aka Goatboy), Andy Best and myself.

Upon arriving at the exceedingly posh-looking Radisson Edwardian hotel, our shock at having been placed in such luxurious surroundings on Sky’s expense was matched only by that of the hotel staff upon seeing eight scruffy, noisy football fans turn up in their lobby. After about 15 minutes of making sure we had been sent to the right place and convincing the receptionist that we were having our bills paid for, they reluctantly let us in, at which point we accidentally tried to gatecrash a formal dress ball that was clearly not for the likes of us.

Despite promising Sky that we were not going to turn up hungover the following morning, we had cunningly snuck some bottles of vodka in so as to avoid minibar charges. Tragically, gathered in Dan and Goatboy’s room, we polished that off within an hour. However, with typical resourcefulness we contacted a local beer-delivery firm to bring us £98’s worth of lager, which we duly charged to Sky.

Much of the night was spent debating what song we should sing on the following morning’s show. As anyone who saw the broadcast will know, we eventually settled on the classic “We all agree, Nottingham Forest are magic”. Our vociferous rehearsals of this at 1:30am led to us being given a short, sharp telling off from the hotel staff, so we continued our discussions at a slightly lower volume.

At 3:00am we eventually decided it was time for bed, tardiness we all regretted when we had to get up just three hours later in order to be ready for our lift in the morning. Arriving at the Sky studios in Isleworth we were given a quick tour around the studios by crew member Jon – he seemingly didn’t notice our collective grogginess. We wore kits supplied by the club which were apparently the official reserve team strip.

The show itself was an all-round good laugh. We endeavoured to make as much noise as possible – including annoying guest band the Futureheads with our repeatedly poor renditions of their new single – and conspired to make sure than Dan was selected for the humiliating catwalk. Our performance in the ‘We are the Champions League’ shoot-out game was pitiful, landing a lowly two (scored by Andy and Dan). In our defence it was bitterly cold and we hadn’t been allowed to practice, although that doesn't excuse our general crapness.

Presenters Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain were personable enough (Helen was also as radiant, maybe more, as she appears on screen), although they understandably didn’t feel the need to spend too much time making small-talk with the likes of us. The crew, however, were a constant source of entertainment, joining us in games of keepy-uppy during the breaks – such games were probably ill-advised to start off with considering the compactness of the studio, but chaos was caused when Goatboy inadvertently kicked the ball at a tray of drinks meaning that a) we weren’t allowed to play any more, and b) we didn’t get any more drinks for our shame.

After the show we were joined in a near-by pub by guests Corronation Street’s Andy ‘Kirk’ Whyment and Norwich midfielder Damien Francis. All-in-all, it was a surreal but enjoyable experience and fun was had by all. Followed by the Reds’ sterling performance at Tottenham in the FA Cup the next day, it was certainly an eventful weekend.

Soccer AM pictures

Various members of the crew discuss matters in the Duke of York pub at King's Cross Station

Dan wonders if we're at the right hotel

Goatboy, Andy and Rich getting gradually wasted in the hotel room

Our beer is brought up by room service

"It doesn't look that hard" - Goatboy inspects the 'We are the Champions League' target

Ready for action - the whole crew lines up before the show (Top left to bottom right: Andy Best, Alan Fisher, Mike 'Hobo' Brown, Andy Cross, Rich Fisher, Dan Hawkins, Mike 'Goatboy' Finlay, Alex Walker)