So the World Cup starts tomorrow, though the publicity and hype has been going on for weeks.

On Monday I was convinced that the competition was already half over. Then I looked in the paper and realised that it hadn’t actually started!

You see, I’m not much of a football fan.

I do photograph football, and get a certain enjoyment from being at a good game. But it’s not the match I find interesting, it’s the chanting, the banter of the fans and, occasionally, some spectacularly bizarre on-pitch behaviour from the players.

There is, after all, a noticeable surge of excitement as a player races down the pitch, controlling the ball at every step and then cleverly flicks it into the back of the net.

The roar of the crowd and the joy of the players combine to create a tangible feeling, shared by everyone in the stadium.

The low times are there too of course – the baring of souls when the game is lost, and sometimes there’s even a fist fight.

But it remains, to me, a rather pointless game. Just a bunch of blokes running around trying to kick a ball into a big goal – if it was a really small goal I think I might be more impressed!

So, during this tournament which, it seems, will hold the majority of the residents of this country enthralled, there must be some advantages to the few of us who would rather be involved in other things.

Take 1998 for example. England played Argentina in the second round. The whole country seemed to come to a standstill for this match.

So my husband and I, having to drive down to Folkestone in Kent for a big birthday party the following day, did most of the trip during the game. It was simply the easiest of journeys. The motorways were virtually deserted.

I admit that we listened to the match on the car radio – and it was exciting. When it went into extra time, we were happy that we might reach our destination before the final whistle. We hadn’t anticipated that there would be a penalty shoot-out and we arrived just in time to watch the whole thing on TV. It was gripping stuff.

I’m sure that this year, important matches will, once again, result in virtually empty roads, so any long distance driving will be far easier at these times. Certainly there’s less likelihood of any boy racers being about.

World Cup trivia to impress your football loving friends:

• In the 80 years of the World Cup, there have been 18 tournaments, but only seven nations have actually won the trophy. Brazil have won five times, Italy four, Germany three, Uruguay and Argentina have won twice, and England and France have one title each.

• England have lost all three of their World Cup penalty shoot-outs, in 1990, 1998 and 2006.

• French striker Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden. This is a record that’s never been broken.

• The youngest player to have scored a World Cup goal is Brazilian Pele who was only 17 when he scored against Wales in 1958.

• Hungarian player Laszlo Kiss is the only substitute to score a hat trick in the World Cup. His team were playing Belgium in the 1956 tournament.

• The original World Cup, made of gold with a base of semi-precious stones, was designed by the French sculptor Abel Lafleur and awarded from 1930 to 1970. During the Second World War Italian sports official Dr Ottorino Barassi was so worried that it would be impounded by the Nazis, that he hid the World Cup under his bed for several years.

• The cup was famously stolen while on show in London before the 1966 finals. It was found under a hedge in Norwood, South London, by a dog called Pickles. After 1970 a new trophy was created. Made of 18 carat gold, standing 14 inches high and weighing 11 pounds, it was designed by Italian Silvio Gazzagniga. The World Cup vanished in 1983 when it was stolen from a display box in Rio. Police believe it was probably melted down. The current trophy is a copy made by a German goldsmith. A new trophy will be needed by 2042 because the name plate on its base will be full.