I CAN STILL CRINGE AT MY DAY ON CATWALK

FROM a blushing Soccerette to a favourite fixture on one of the most talked-about days of the football calendar, Natalie Sawyer has climbed the career ladder perfectly to land herself in all our front rooms. Railroaded into hitting the

Soccer AM catwalk by presenter Tim Lovejoy and even her parents as an 18-year-old, little did we know back then that her Saturday morning strut back in 1998 was just the start of her love affair with the broadcaster’s camera.

Walking out in Brentford top, the genuine passion for her club and lower end of the Football League sold her to us. Some 15 years on, things would not be the same without her.

“Yes... that,” she grimaced as the conversation came to her TV debut. “Now that was before I joined Sky. I was on a six-week work placement during my University degree and I got to know the Soccer

AM crew really well. “Tim kept saying, ‘come on the show, come on the show’ and I kept saying ‘no, no way I’m not going to do it’– then I stupidly told my parents… who then told me I had to do it!

“After that I talked myself round. It was my first taste of live Sky TV I suppose, it was a lot of fun. I do still cringe a little bit but it’s a part of my journey I suppose. And let’s not forget I was representing my beloved Bees!”

But now, not just a Sky Sports News HQ mainstay but also heading up Sky’s Football League coverage, she still finds the time to do something she’s committed to since childhood – getting behind her first love Brentford. “That will never stop, I can’t help it,” she said.“I was there on Tuesday in the Capital One Cup. It’s never easy losing, but even more so with it being Fulham our west London rivals!

“I first joined Sky as a runner, or a production junior to give it its proper title. When I say I was a runner, I ran a lot! I really liked it, I threw myself into it for two years. It kept me fit.

“I then worked on the yellow ticker – the news that scrolled across the screen and the side panel. From then I worked my way up through the production team and from there I became a presenter.

“I’m really enjoying the Football League side of things, of course I am being a Brentford fan! I just love it so to be able to help out is so fantastic. I’ve followed the Bees since I was a little girl so this is my bread and butter.”