He's used to appearing on the football pitch in front of thousands of fans – but when it came to editing the Mercury, Alan Birchenall found himself feeling the pressure.
Alan, 67, spent yesterday at the Mercury offices in St George Street, putting together today's copy of the paper as guest editor.
He said: "It's been great to see everyone at the paper working and experience it all up close. It's the sort of opportunity money can't buy, so it's been brilliant.
"I was very nervous because this is completely outside my comfort zone. I've played in front of 100,000 before, but this still gave me butterflies. I couldn't handle it full time!"
Today's paper is full of interviews conducted by Alan as well as features commissioned by him.
His day in the office yesterday followed two months preparation alongside his job as Leicester City's club ambassador and his ongoing charity work, which earned him an MBE in 2002.
Alan was the first guest editor in our 139-year history.
"I think it's awesome that everyone here is doing this all the time and putting together a whole newspaper six days a week," he said.
