IN CASE you hadn't already heard, my time at The Gazette is up. In fact, by the time you read this, I'll have completed my final day at the paper.

It's been a largely enjoyable 11 years, especially the last eight, which have seen me achieve my childhood ambition of writing about sport for a living.

While I never managed to land my dream job, covering Chelsea for the Evening Standard or one of the national newspapers, I'm not sure I'd change too much about my journalistic career.

I can put my hand on my heart and say that while working in sport, I've never had that horrible Sunday evening feeling that so many people experience, while turning up to a football/rugby/ice hockey/cricket match and calling it work is a privilege that I have never under-estimated.

There are a lot of people who I need to thank and I'm sure to forget some of them, so apologies in advance.

I must begin with all of my colleagues at The Gazette, both past and present. It's been a pleasure to work with you all and even in the most trying times, the newsroom has been a good place to work in.

Former editor Mark Jones takes a lot of credit for my career. Not only did he give me a chance in the first place, he also accommodated my move to the sportsdesk and ran with my ideas.

I've worked with three Basingstoke Town managers, and all of them have been nothing but accommodating to me.

Non-league press boxes are rife with stories of managers refusing to speak to journalists after defeats or because they take issue with things that are written.

This is a problem I have never had, which says a lot about the character of Francis Vines, Frank Gray and Jason Bristow.

Jason deserves particular credit. Not once has he refused to take part in a post-match video interview, even when he's visibly deflated by the result, while he has also had to put up with my amateur analysis of his team's performances.

He is a genuinely good guy and I hope he is given the time to turn things around at The Camrose. He earned it last season.

There are a host of other people at the club who have helped me greatly over the years, from chairman Rafi Razzak, through officials at the club like David Knight, Richard Trodd and Sarah Parsons and every player who has given me an interview.

I've also received a great deal of support from Town fans and have been genuinely overwhelmed by their reaction to the news of my departure.

I'm attending Saturday's FA Cup game as a guest of the club, which is something I'm really looking forward to. Having spent the last eight years in the press box, I might even stand behind the goal for part of the match!

While football has been my main beat, I have also covered a wide myriad of other sports, meeting a lot of great people along the way.

Dr Steve Tristram has always been a great ally for me at Basingstoke RFC and having known him for a while in several capacities, I've been impressed by what I've seen of Richard Fitzpatrick, his replacement as chairman.

Things don't look great in terms of the first team at the moment, but Richard is working hard to ensure that all of the other great things done at Down Grange continue.

If you go down on a Sunday morning, you will see hundreds of youngsters playing rugby. It's not like the football club, where first team results are all that really matters, it's also about getting children into the sport, which is something that needs to be celebrated.

Martyn Humberstone also helped me a lot when I started covering the club (even explaining the rules at times!), while all of the coaches and players down the years have been very accommodating to my needs.

Other people who have been a massive help to me down the years include Ian Byett and Chris Blow at Basingstoke and Mid Hants and local football aficionado Peter Raynbird.

There are many more people out there, far too many to mention, who give up countless amounts of time for sport in north Hampshire, and I doff my cap to you all.

Last, but by no means least, a big thanks to all of the readers who have made my job worth doing. It's been great fun keeping you up to date with all the latest sports news from across north Hampshire, and Graham will continue to do the same from now on.

I didn't grow up in the area, but Basingstoke will always have a special place in my heart and I'll continue to look out for the results of Town, the Bison and Basingstoke RFC.

Let's hope we have a bit more to celebrate in the next eight years!