My assignment for Final Score was newly-promoted Doncaster Rovers versus Blackpool. To cover any match as a reporter, preparation is the key. In fact, covering a game outside of the Premier League requires even more research. Every development in the top flight is reported in minute detail by the various media outlets, so that information is usually right in front of you. You have to look a bit harder to find out the latest on the Doncaster Rovers takeover or who Blackpool have signed in the close season. If you get the details wrong, supporters are rarely shy about telling you.

I usually know my fixtures four or five weeks ahead. Preparation for the next match begins the week before with Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2. As well as following the general cut and thrust of all of the Premier League fixtures, I pay special attention to the two sides I will be covering. During the following week, I take a similar approach by keeping across all football stories but jotting down rough notes for the game ahead and chatting to contacts. If either of the two teams are in action in midweek, I make a point of watching the games or at least the highlights to keep on top of their current form, injuries or other stories. I usually  present sports news bulletins and film an item for Football Focus during the week possibly with one of the teams I will be reporting on, so that clearly helps. By Friday, I look to put together the final match notes which I take with me to the ground. They will include line ups, details of most recent matches, top scorers, disciplinary record, referee and any other news.

Saturday dawns with a look at the sport on BBC News, Sky Sports News, the back pages, some websites and Twitter. Breakfast is taken on the hoof and then it’s time to hit the road with BBC Five Live for company all the way. I aim to arrive at the ground at 1pm. I plug in and test my broadcasting equipment in the press box or on the gantry then it’s time for lunch in the press room. This is a chance to catch up with colleagues and chat about any developing stories. Social media is becoming an increasingly important tool for reporters. Most are glued to Twitter looking for information from players, other reporters and fans or offering observations and news of their own. I was once at Everton when Louis Saha was surprisingly absent from the match day squad. A quick look at Twitter revealed him sounding off about the decision to drop him. We had an instant news story before a ball had been kicked. Social media has been brilliant for journalists in that respect. Managers probably have a slightly different opinion.

I  receive last minute instructions from the editor of Final Score, Steve Rudge and pick up the team sheet at about 2.15pm. It’s time to write a piece setting the scene for when the programme comes on air on the BBC HD Channel at 2.30pm. The aim is to provide the most significant team news and give the viewer a reason to be interested in that game. It may have a significant bearing on the title race, a top four position, relegation or a manager’s future. The bigger the game, the more often the reporter is called upon to update the viewers of Final Score. The programme reaches a climax when coverage switches to BBC One which guarantees a big audience especially in the winter months as the nation begins to sit down to enjoy a Saturday evening’s viewing.

As it turned out, there was little drama at the Keepmoat Stadium with Blackpool completing a fairly routine 3-1 victory although Doncaster Rovers played some good stuff for a spell. With little controversy, the post match interviews with the managers for that night’s Football League Show were straightforward too – Paul Ince was delighted, Paul Dickov slightly less so.

Other days will be more dramatic than this. Of that, you can be sure. I carry no torch for Manchester City but the climax to their title-winning season is unlikely to be matched for excitement. I was privileged to be there to witness it. After forty odds weeks of Premier League combat, for it to come down to the last kick of the last match to decide the destiny of the title was extraordinary. The race for honours looks more open this season than it has for quite a while. I am lucky to be able to report on every twist and turn between now and next May.

The tiny islands of Cape Verde have been the surprise package at the tournament. They are first time qualifiers who have miraculously made it through the group stages to the quarter finals. They have players like Platini, David Silva and Josimar but little of the quality of their more prestigious namesakes. The part time coach Luis Antunes has taken a break from his regular job as an air traffic controller to lead the team. He has even been getting tips from a well known pal of his, one Jose Mourinho the Real Madrid coach.

As Europe shivers, it is high summer in South Africa. Glorious sunny days give way to balmy, breezy evenings and the trees are laden with amazing tropical fruits. The warm pleasant conditions after dark are ideal for football but the tournament has not really sprung into life yet.

You would imagine that after successfully staging the 2010 World Cup, hosting the Africa Cup of Nations would be a piece of cake. But there have been problems with ticketing. Quite a few games have taken place in near empty stadiums and the pitch at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit is a disgrace. Any tournament needs the hosts to progress and South Africa have not disappointed. The black population in particular is gripped by the progress of Bafana Bafana. It is the only subject of conversation in bars, restaurants and online.

You still sense a racial and sporting divide though. The tournament is met with amused indifference among the rugby-mad Afrikaners. The Super 15 tournament, which pits the best of the southern hemisphere sides together, is about to start. So, for rugby followers the football is largely as sideshow.

By and large the stadiums are magnificent. Rustenburg is a curious choice as a host city. The other disappointment is the absence of Cape Town as a venue. It was used during the World Cup two and a half years ago. My own personal favourite is the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. It has a stunning arch soaring 106 metres above the playing surface and enjoys a wonderful position close to the beach.

The tournament reaches a climax in Johannesburg on Sunday February 10th. Soccer City in Soweto has been renamed the National Stadium after the World Cup. The arena, shaped like a calabash or traditional African bowl, provides a fitting setting. The only question now is whether Drogba and co can deliver Ivory Coast’s first African title since 1992 .

It is a town better known for fishing than football but since winning promotion last season, the Cod Army are enjoying their first year in the Football League. They could even make a push for a second successive promotion after an encouraging start to the campaign.

It’s an attractive stadium dominated by a giant new stand and a balmy autumn afternoon made it an enjoyable trip to the Fylde coast. Unfortunately for the locals, visitors Wycombe scored a first half goal and clung on to win one nil. For clubs in the Championship and above, Blackpool is the popular away day and neighbouring Fleetwood may well come to rival it as an appealing destination for lower league fans following their team on the road.

I can also recommend Rotherham United’s New York Stadium. I watched the Millers beat Morecambe 2-1 in October. They have been in exile for a few years playing their home games at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium, but are back home now at a new ground right in the centre of the town.

Rotherham has been hard hit by the economic downturn and hardly felt the benefits of the boom years before that. Not only is the New York Stadium a fine venue in which to watch football with a vibrant atmosphere in its fully enclosed bowl, but the central location might just help revive Rotherham’s flagging town centre. So, two new grounds for League Two football fans to bear in mind. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed.

The storm had been predicted. Its ferocity had not. I stood at the window of my ninth floor hotel room for half an hour trying in vain to get a picture as the sky was illuminated by a dazzling light show. Unfortunately, every time I clicked I managed to miss the lightening bolt.

Match of the Day commentator Steve Wilson, in a room on the same side of the hotel, had the same idea. Steve had more luck, and skill, than me and below is his shot of lightning over Warsaw’s Palace of Culture.

So, Euro 2012 enters the knockout phase. The Republic of Ireland, who I have been covering, have already packed their bags and headed home chastened by the experience of playing their first international tournament in a decade. The Irish could not sustain their impressive run from qualification and pre tournament friendlies in which they had gone fourteen matches unbeaten.

However, their unbelievable travelling supporters – over 25-thousand of them – made an indelible impression upon the Championship. They packed the train from Gdansk to Poznan where they played their final game, a 2-nil defeat by Italy the other day. The train was so full that I had to perch on my luggage in the corridor. It’s not all glamour in TV, you know.

From here on, it’s knockout football. England are still in their fighting and surpassing many expectations. It’s Italy in the last eight and the dream of possibly meeting old foes Germany in the final in Kiev on July 1st. Let’s hope the England players have been practicing penalties.

The only downside on the pitch has been the Republic of Ireland, who I am covering. The Irish national anthem can surely never have been sung with more passion than before their opening game with Croatia in Poznan. Even I was welling up and I am not Irish. Sadly, the team was outplayed by the classy Croatians and conceded three uncharacteristically soft goals in going down 3-1.

The threat of violence towards visiting black and Asian fans by right wing Polish and Ukrainian thugs has not materialised. I have had a friendly welcome in Poland and experienced no such problems when I have visited Ukraine in the past. However, British broadcasters have been warned to keep a low profile for fear of confrontation with decent Polish fans who are angry at the way the country was depicted in the Panorama programme before the tournament.

That is not to say the tournament has not been entirely trouble free. Warsaw got a bit nasty when bitter rivals Poland and Russia met in their second Group A game. There were more violent clashes when some Lech Poznan ultras sporting balaclavas turned up intent on wrecking the party atmosphere the night before Ireland played Croatia. By and large though, rival fans have mingled together and enjoyed sing songs and friendly banter in bars and town squares. Euro 2012 is actually shaping up into a bit of a classic.