Over the last few months, well, over the last year since the world has been thrown into turmoil, many of us have lost a hell of a lot of things that we know and love. One of those at one stage was football as a whole, but even now with football back, here in the UK we’re still missing a massive element. For many of us, going to the footy with your mates, your dad or your kids on a Saturday afternoon was a chance to get away from the stress and strain of normal life and have a chat to each other, whether it be about what’s going on with your team or what’s going on in your life. Now that we’re not allowed into stadiums, we’ve lost that social aspect of the sport we know and love and 3PM on a Saturday for most of us, particularly here in England, has now become a sad state of wearing your shirt on your sofa with a warm can of Carling shouting at your local radio commentators who have been thrown into fame with the popularity of iFollow.

I myself have struggled at times, particularly in lockdown 3.0 and am guilty myself of seeing no light at the end of what’s been one hell of a long tunnel. But even if we can’t be together in stadiums and can’t chat with our family and our mates, we can still be united by the great sport that is football. And that’s where our February Super Saturday comes in. Every Saturday at 3PM we will share a zoom invite code on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram. ANYONE can join (up to a maximum that’s allowed obviously by zoom). Whether you’re watching your own team on iFollow, if you’re watching Jeff Stelling on Soccer Saturday or if you’re not watching any football at all and just want to have a chat about what’s going on in your life, the door is open to anyone. It might not be a packed Madjeski Stadium or Elland Road or even a mostly empty Vale Park, but it’s something to at least feel like you’re not the only one sat on your sofa. Wherever you are, whether it be America or Zambia, you’re invited to slip on your football shirt that’s becoming increasingly tighter in lockdown and just have a chat and have a laugh with other football fans from all over the world.

But not only that, I wanted to use the audience that we have at InplayMan to do some form of challenge. Something to raise some cash for the countless charities out there that have seen a decrease in funding and an increase in calls. Yes, there’s a horrible virus sweeping the globe, but the mental effects of this unprecedented 12 months will be with us for so much longer. So for January I’m going to attempt, and film, #10KKickups. Over the course of the month (and bear in mind I’m starting on Saturday 6th), I’ll attempt to complete 10,000 kick ups in one month. Rain or shine, indoor or outdoor, walking or standing still, the aim is to raise awareness and hopefully £1,000 for the charity MIND who do incredible work speaking to people who are struggling with their Mental Health every single day. It’s an average of about 435 kick ups a day providing I don’t have a day off. And I hope that the constant videos and live streams throughout the month will encourage you to donate a bit of cash. If I can get £1 for every kick up I’ll be a happy man. I also invite any of you to get involved as well. Film whatever you can and post your videos on social media with #10KKickups and by the end of it, who knows, we might have a million kick ups between us and hopefully a million quid. Can't do 10,000 kick ups? No problem at all. Whether you do 1 kickup to raise £1, 100 to raise £100 or 50,000 to raise £50,000, the more people who are involved, the more we can raise!