David Artell / David Artell / 25 April 2008 / 1 Comments

Morecambe's David Artell on being invited by Betfair to the FA Trophy Final at Wembley, his choice for Morecambe's player of the year and his best mates in football.

I have to start this week by offering my congratulations to a friend of mine who has just got promoted to the Championship. Roberto Martinez has done an outstanding job of getting Swansea promoted in his first full season in charge at the Liberty Stadium. He is the most professional footballer I have worked with and it's no surprise he has transferred this into his managerial career.

Since taking the job 15 months ago he's only had three days off which shows his commitment to the cause. I spoke to him after Swansea got promoted and although he was overjoyed, he said he still missed playing (although he joins in training every day). If they win at the weekend to clinch the title, then don't be surprised to see a cameo role from him the following week in the last game of the season. He also said that he wants to take Swansea into the Premier League within five years and if anyone can do that, its Roberto.

Just like Roberto at Swansea, I look for my other friends' results at their respective clubs. One of the first results I look for is Hartlepool as two of my friends play for them. I played with both Andy Monkhouse and Richie Barker at Rotherham and also with Richie at Mansfield. Richie is another player who is the consummate professional and one who I believe will end up as a manager at some point. Another good friend of mine is Chris Sedgewick who plays for Preston and although Preston and Hartlepool aren't in Morecambe's league, we played against them both in cup competitions this season. We won both games so it certainly gave me the bragging rights in the chats and phone calls afterwards.

The season is quickly coming to a close but before it does I have a Cup final at Wembley to look forward to. Unfortunately I wont be playing it, only watching, which is a shame as we have been close on two fronts this season. I will get to see what the Morecambe players have been talking about all season and it's all thanks to the people at Betfair. I've been invited to watch the FA Trophy Final between Torquay and Ebbsfleet so me and the wife are going to make a weekend of it as I've never been to London for a social visit before, only to play football. Were looking to go sight-seeing and take in a West End show and I'm sure we'll go shopping too.

There is one down side to the weekend in London and it's that I'm going to miss Morecambe's player of the season event as it falls on the same day. The gaffer has given me special dispensation but even still it's a real shame I cant reflect with the fans on a fantastic first season in the football league at Morecambe. I don't think I'll have to be there to pick up an award as they'll go to either Gary Thompson or Carl Baker in my opinion. A special mention also has to be made to Joe Lewis who came to us on loan from Norwich before signing for Peterborough in a record £400,000 deal. He is a fantastic goalkeeper and if he had stayed for the rest of the season, would have walked away with all the awards going.

It been a week of big games with the Champions League semi-finals and there's another this weekend as the top two in the Premiership go head to head at Stamford Bridge in what could be the Championship decider. It could define one team's season and leave them with only the Champions League to play for (especially Chelsea) and all the players will be chomping at the bit to be involved.

One player who will be hoping he turns in a slightly better performance than in midweek is Frank Lampard. He didn't have a great game but there could be mitigating circumstances as he recently missed games because his mother has been very ill during this period and sadly passed away yesterday. It's never easy playing when non-football related issues are playing on your mind but you have to be as professional as possible.

Anything from your children or close family being ill or simply having an argument with the missus can have an effect on your mindset and it is something that can affect your performance. I'm sure Lampard will be back to his best against Manchester United and I think he will help his Chelsea team-mates get a clean sheet which is a [2.94]chance, although I'm not sure if they will win, so I'm also tempted to plump for a scoreless draw too at [9.8].

David Artell plays for Morecambe FC:

http://www.morecambefc.com/

Tags: Carl Baker, David Artell, FA Trophy Final, Morecambe FC