Candlelight Ambience

Black Candlestick, £37, Rockett St George

Glass candlesticks always look elegant and add a little luxe to any fireplace or cosy corner in your home

Marlon Glass Candleholder, £22, Cult Furniture

Candlestick, £120, Sweetpea & Willow

Grey Glass Candlestick, £12.95, The Grey Works

Short Green Glass Candlestick, £3, Gisela Graham Dark Green Glass Candle Holder, £14, Talking Tables

Fry’sFootieCorner

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a Happy New Year. Let’s hope 2022 is better than 2021 around the globe and we can start looking forward with a bit of optimism. When I look back on 2021, in football terms, I do so with a smile on my face though. At Peterborough United, we secured automatic promotion to the Sky Bet Championship and I will never ever forget that day for as long as I am on this Earth.

It was already a challenging campaign with no supporters in the stadiums, but after putting ourselves in a wonderful position, we faltered against Doncaster Rovers, throwing a 2-0 lead away to draw 2-2 and set up a tense afternoon against Lincoln City.

I think the lads forgot that I have a history of heart problems, because I don’t think I would do that day justice in this column. 1-0 down, 2-0 down and then 3-0 down with just over half an hour to play. Not just to anyone either, against the team that fancied their chances of overhauling us and securing promotion for themselves.

Then out of nowhere, Siriki Dembele pulled a goal back and then Jonson Clarke-Harris scored a deflected free-kick to set things up for a crazy finish. I have to be honest, I couldn’t see the equaliser coming, but in the 95th minute, we got a spot-kick. It is a good job VAR was not implemented in League One, let’s leave it at that.

You certainly need big (insert your preferred word here!) to step up and take a penalty in the 95th minute to get your team promoted, but Jonson puffed out his chest and put the ball in the back of the net. What a feeling that was! It was just a shame there was nobody there to witness it, bar the lucky few.

It set up a wonderful summer. Everyone knows how passionate I am about the national team and it was a joy to see England reach the final of the European Championships. I was there when they won it in 1966 and I thought we were going to be successful again, but we just can’t seem to get over the finishing line, particularly when penalty kicks are involved.

As we look forward to 2022, we have a World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year and hopefully we can go one better. For Peterborough United, our aim is simple, stay in the division. This time next year, I don’t want to be reflecting on what might have been, I want to be reflecting on another positive 12 months on and off the pitch.

Stay safe and see you soon!