If you are reading this, welcome.

Welcome to We Are Sunderland and what I hope will be a supreme alternative to your usual SAFC fix. And that’s just it, isn’t it? We all have that football fix, whether it be from the banks of the River Wear or the shores of Sicily, we all put in so much of our time and devotion to football. It’s an escapism that sometimes can’t quite be quantified, and yet we are going to try and do just that.

I’m delighted to be starting a new adventure covering a club who are back on the up again in Sunderland, as they strive for a return to the Premier League. From Gary Rowell to Kevin Phillips, from Jermain Defoe to Jack Clarke, there are Sunderland heroes past and present – each with their own story and successes to tell.

Following a team is about more than that, though. It’s about meeting up with friends who you may not see outside of the football parameters. It’s about journeying to watch your team across the country. Taking in the smells wafting from the old Roker Pie shop before taking up your familiar position in the Fulwell End or walking en-masse over the Wearmouth Bridge to the Stadium of Light and your familiar seat. The sight of the grass. The nets. The roar. The passion. The pride. Wearside. As the quote from another Sunderland hero, Niall Quinn, says: “I learned my trade at Arsenal, became a footballer at Manchester City, but Sunderland got under my skin.”

It's easy to see why that quote may resonate. After dotting around the North East in recent years as part of my life and career, having also been on the beat with Hartlepool United in recent years - another club who know a thing or two about ups and downs -  the reach of Sunderland is as impressive as it is vast. It’s a club which influences so many lives on a day-to-day basis and it’s the same for us fortunate enough to be in the press box. It’s a privilege to be there to try and tell the stories you want to read.

Those stories are why I joined We Are Sunderland. We’ve all stood in the dugout, in our own minds at least, and given our verdict. But there is more to it than that in the modern game. Data and analytics have now become commonplace in the mainstream of football. It’s no longer about the he said, she said, this happened, and this happened. It’s about the why.

Football has grown in the way in which we consume it. We all are, or have been, match-going enthusiasts. But the game stretches beyond that now. It stretches beyond 3pm-5pm on a Saturday – yes, I’m a traditionalist. There’s a curiosity and a desire beyond that and throughout the week until the next game and the next game. You know when players and managers will often emphasise how they will take it one game at a time? Well, here we can.

We can dive into each game at a time and bring you the best of what it has to offer and the context behind it.  Why did certain aspects of play happen? Why is Jack Clarke one of the best wingers in the Championship? Each game is a story in it’s own right and it is nuanced, and we aim to bring you those stories and that nuance in as much detail as possible – just like how you do every Saturday talking to your friends at the bar before and after a game.

Being able to watch and write about football is the best job you can have outside of being lucky enough to play the game itself – we’ve all had that one knee injury that prevented us, right? In football there is always something happening and the same can be said of Sunderland, in particular.

Since the club’s takeover almost two years ago, the dynamics on Wearside have changed. The data-driven model the club now focuses on has led to a promotion from League One and a Championship play-off spot, so why wouldn’t it be interesting to delve a little deeper into the why and the how that has happened?

The club is evolving and this position at We Are Sunderland is hopefully going to evolve the coverage of Sunderland and that, for me, is exciting.