Some people believe our lives are controlled by destiny, by fate, by some over-arching universal plan. I couldn’t disagree more. For me, we build our own world and shape that of those around with our everything we say and do – and that only by taking responsibility for those words and action can we begin to strengthen our mental health in the same way that committing to an exercise regime builds our physical self. It’s a book of relatable, practical advice that come from personal experience dealing with my own issues, from working with clients and from…well, life, really.

This was my first book based around mental health and sketches my own attempts to come out of a long spell experiencing anxiety and depression, using physical fitness and adventures outside my comfort zone as a major part of the plan. It takes us from the Arctic to Australia via Vietnam and New York in a six-year spell when life began to change very much for the better.

From early June until early July 2018. I had the joy of criss-crossing Russia to cover a World Cup like no other – the first where referees were helped (or otherwise) by video technology. It was one of the most special months of my career and one made all the more so by the thought that it could be a long, long time before any of us gets to experience the joys of a wonderful country again.

In 2020, with the human race in isolation from each other, I tried to make some sense of our reaction to Covid by chronicling the 199 days that made up the UK’s first lockdown. We Know Nothing is partly a diary, interspersed with excepts from my columns during the most complex and confusion time any of us have ever known – or hope to ever again.