TAM Cowan is not what you would call the outdoors type. Not for him the call of the wild. He's an urban sort of chap. A Motherwell man in Ben Sherman and chinos who most often finds his nirvana in the interior world of smoky bookies and pubs rather than the exterior world of Goretex and muddy hillsides.

Remarkably, though, there's one pursuit that's seen the nation's best-known armchair football fan venture outdoors occasionally in the last decade - greyhound racing.

His outdoor ventures mainly take place at the side of the racetrack at Glasgow's Shawfield Stadium. And sometimes Tam has even been known to take a greyhound for a walk in the country.

Tam's favourite haunts, though, are Shawfield's lounge bar or restaurant from where he can see the racing greyhounds do their stuff. He's also fond of placing a bet or two.

''What I like about Shawfield is that it has a real 1970s' social-club atmosphere with waitress service and a relaxed air,'' says Tam, who is about to make his terrestrial television debut presenting a series of quirky travelogues on BBC1 Scotland.''You can have a few drinks with your mates, place a bet on the dogs and get away from it all. It's not about the money, because you can't make that much. You just can't beat it for a night out.''

Greyhounds have been part of Tam's life for 11 years, since he first went to Shawfield as a callow youth of 20 with his mate Jim.

''Now, seldom a week goes past when I don't go,'' he says. ''The racing's on every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and while I might not always go midweek, it would have to be something extraordinary which kept me away on a Saturday night.

''There's a group of us, all old mates from Motherwell, who go regularly on a Saturday night. There was one Saturday when Lily, one of the women who's worked there for donkey's years, came up to me all ashen-faced, saying that the guys had been in a car accident. Once I'd worked out that they were all okay, just shocked, I stayed on for the next race because it was a really big one. After that I went to see if they were fine.''

Tam decided to buy a greyhound with his mate Sandy five years ago. ''You don't make a lot of money betting on greyhounds but we thought it would add that little bit of interest by having our own dog,'' he says.

''Our first dog was called Stain Digester, after that stupid advert which the two women from Birds of a Feather did for household cleaner. It was such a daft name that it made me laugh. She came into a bit of form about a year after we bought her, even reaching the finals of a big competition one Christmas.

''Sadly, she's now gone to the big kennel in the sky. Her rear left leg broke one night as she was racing and you could hear the snap right round the stadium. It was awful. Most dogs retire when they're five years old and injury is the most common reason.

''Since then, we've bought another three dogs, Caledonian Star, Caledonian Glory, and another one, from Ireland, which we were hoping for great things from, called Lemon Delphi. She cost (pounds) 1100 and had a fantastic pedigree but she's not raced well at all. I think she's earned us about (pounds) 40 so far!

''It costs (pounds) 5 a day to keep a greyhound but Sandy and I don't pay Alan Armstrong, the trainer,'' says Tam. ''The way we work it is that if they have a win on any of the races, Alan keeps the money. On our dogs' form, he hasn't done too well lately.''

''Caledonian Star hasn't been doing too badly but Glory was retired through injury recently and was found a good home through the Retired Greyhounds Trust.''

Tam's only concession to exercise takes place at trainer Alan's kennels in Blackridge, Lanarkshire. ''I can't say I'm a regular,'' he confesses, ''but there's a really nice walk round the kennels, which lie on a nature reserve. It's really peaceful up there and the dogs are really quite quiet and serene once they get over the initial excitement of being outside.

''Mind you, it can be dangerous if they suddenly spot a rabbit. Sandy and I took his two young sons up there one day and his five year old had just taken one of them when it spied a rabbit. The wee lad didn't know if he was coming or going!''

It's trainer Alan who ensures the greyhounds are properly exercised. ''I have three people who work with me and we take the dogs for a walk every morning, six at a time,'' he says. ''We also have a gallop, a bit like a greyhound track, in the middle of the country, complete with electronic hare, close to the kennels and we take all of the racing dogs up there every afternoon.

''We don't take them all to Shawfield on race nights, but the dogs know when they're racing that night because we hang a muzzle outside their kennel early on in the day. They probably get three races in a fortnight.

''I also breed here, and we have pups, who have their own little yard to run around. We start training them about 14 months and they're ready to race by 18 months.''

Busier than ever, with an extra midweek edition of Off The Ball, the cult radio show he co-presents with Stuart Cosgrove, just launched and his new series showing for the next six weeks, Tam's visits to his dogs may be taking a back seat for the foreseeable future. He's also bringing the award-winning football fanzine show he presented on BBC Choice to BBC Scotland in October, with a new name, yet to be decided upon.

The new series, Taxi For Cowan, which starts on BBC1 Scotland on Monday at 9.30pm, is so named because the host doesn't drive and takes taxis everywhere, sees Tam taking a break from football and exploring six places in Scotland.

''It was good to do something which didn't involve football for once,'' says the man who started out his comedy career while still at school, writing jokes for Little and Large and Bobby Davro.

''I'm really keen on promoting Scotland as a great place to explore and we kick off the series in Bute, where I used to spend camping holidays with my dad when I was a wee boy. We also visit Edinburgh, Fort William, St Andrews, Peebles and Gretna.''

And do greyhounds figure in this departure for Cowan?

''Aye, well, in Gretna, we went to the Halcrow Dog Track,'' he admits. |''Of course, we did the wedding thing too, but I busked for the soon-to-be-weds with my kazoo to get enough money to place a bet or two at the dogs.''

l Shawfield Stadium, Rutherglen, tel: 0141 647 4124. Entry is (pounds) 3 and races start at 8pm.

l If you are interested in giving a home to a retired greyhound, call Don Ferguson of the Retired Greyhound Trust on 0131 539 0672.