The day started with me checking the weather forecast. The reports were saying pretty much the same thing: windy.
Nothing unusual, perhaps, until I stepped outside and found myself wrestling with the wind. It almost felt like my body weight wasn't enough to keep me grounded.
Before leaving, I checked the team's X account to confirm that the Liverpool Women's match against London City Lionesses was still going ahead. It was. So I got ready and headed out.
I had booked a train for 10:15am. But while on my way to Liverpool Lime Street, a message came through. My train had been cancelled.
Shocking? Maybe not, considering the weather.
Thankfully, I had been sensible enough to book a flexible ticket. Unfortunately, that meant very little on a day when several trains were being cancelled.
There was an alternative, though. A longer route involving a bus from Liverpool city centre to St Helens.
So I boarded.
The journey took just under 45 minutes, with a few seconds to spare, and I made it to the first assignment of the day.
Liverpool against London City Lionesses ended 2–2, with a late equaliser adding drama to an already interesting afternoon.
But there was hardly any time to sit back and reflect on the game, or attend the post-match conference with the manager. Another assignment was waiting.
Manchester United Women were hosting Manchester City Women in the derby at the Progress With Unity Stadium in Leigh.
Taking a bus from St Helens was an option, but not a sensible one given the time. Waiting for the number 34 bus to Leigh, followed by the journey and walk, would have taken around an hour and six minutes.
I chose the more convenient, although considerably more expensive, option: a taxi.
Less than half an hour later, I arrived in Leigh.
I was already familiar with the surroundings, so I made my way to collect my press pass before heading towards the press tribune.
And goodness, that walk was freezing!
The Manchester derby itself was worth the journey. Two good teams, plenty of quality and a dramatic finish. Exactly the sort of football you would expect from the top division of the women's game.
City took the lead through Khadija Shaw, but Elisabeth Terland's late equaliser ensured United earned a point in a 1–1 draw.
Then came the final whistle, and with it, the satisfaction of knowing I had pulled off something that looked rather difficult at the start of the day.
Two Women's Super League matches. Two different venues. One Sunday. And match reports written on the final whistle.
All of this, by the way, on a practically empty stomach.
I am one of those people who barely eat when travelling or covering assignments. It saves me the stress of having to worry about finding a toilet when I'm supposed to be concentrating on the job.
Not necessarily the healthiest approach, I know, but that's another story.
Now, having successfully covered two WSL fixtures in one day, I have just one question.
How does one go about getting knighted by the King?
Jokes aside, there was something far more meaningful about this particular Sunday.
October 25 marked exactly two years since my mother, Coach Joy Nnenna Etim, was laid to rest.
Coach Joy was a pioneer of women's football in Nigeria. She devoted so much of her life to the game, helping to open doors and create opportunities for women in football.
She is the reason football runs through my veins.
And somehow, on the anniversary of the day we said our final goodbye, I found myself travelling through wind, cancelled trains and freezing weather to cover two matches in the very sport she loved so dearly.
I couldn't have planned the significance of it any better.
Perhaps that was the real achievement of the day. Not the distance covered, the reports filed, or the two matches attended, but the quiet reminder that her influence continues to travel with me.
Two years on, she is deeply missed.
And on a windy Sunday in October, I carried a little more of her legacy with me.
This one was for you, Mum.
