'Up And Running'

Welcome to all things football, an all new branch of A Football Education. This blog will not only be a current, relevant and up to date little hub of activity, it will also be a place where opinions can be read, challenged or emphatically dismissed. Issues will be tackled, and fun will be had, all that I can assure you of. 

The reason for starting something like this is to incorporate my opinions on issues and currents topics within the football world. Why have multiple debates and discussions with various people in several settings when I can air all those views here in one place? The beauty of our beloved game is that we can all have a say, wherever we're from, whoever we support and whatever level we play at, swapping judgments like 'lords of the Earth' as JB Priestley once said, and that's what this blog will be all about. I'll be covering Sunderland AFC, a bit of Hartlepool United, England, local football, big stories, smaller stories and a whole host of other burning issues in between that may be thought provoking enough for me to get excited about!

We're not here to change the world, but we can certainly put it to rights. I'm aiming for new content at least once a week on the bigger topics, and there's a lot of fun, humorous elements to be had too. Our guest columnist 'The Jester' will be telling a funny tale or two about players, managers and clubs. He has some very prominent sources and contacts within the game, and an uncanny ability to provide some tasty morsels of information for us all to get stuck into. 

There will be match reports, quizzes and possibly a weekly feature on a story outside of the professional game. Another columnist Mr. Ryan Coxon will deliver his thoughts, controversially getting burning issues off his chest in his own sensationalist way. 'Coxon's Comment' will be here very soon and promises to be concise, to the point and vividly opinionated if nothing else! I'm looking forward to reading those myself.

So if it's real football issues and stories you want to read about and tackle then get involved. Tell your friends, your family, your work colleagues... involve them all, get tweeting and sharing. If this is something for them, direct them here. I invite you all in, push yourselves through A Football Education's brand new gleaming turnstile (mind the wet paint) and enter an 'altogether different kind of life, one hurtling with conflict and yet passionate and beautiful in its art'. 

Enjoy.