I’ve invited a team of overweight men from Reading to travel to a remote island 3,000km to the north east of Australia to play football – and tackle an obesity crisis on one of the world’s smallest island nations.

I’m talking about Nauru, which was recently described by The Telegraph as one of the world’s fattest nations.

Earlier this year, I was appointed as Nauru’s first ever national team manager and its international ambassador.

My role is partly focused on assembling a team to play in the country’s first ever official football match, but what I really want to do is use the power and appeal of football to create a legacy of a healthier lifestyle on the island.

So, I’ve invited XL FC, a Reading-based football club that helps men lose weight, to help me do the same for an entire country.

All being well, XL FC will travel to Nauru later this year. The plan is that they will represent Reading – and England – as the first ever team to play a football match against the Nauru national team.

The project is attracting plenty of publicity, with the BBC covering the story online, on radio and television in recent days.

This isn’t about trying to put together a team to win a football match, it’s about trying to make a positive impact on the lives of as many people as possible.

I want to create a programme that can get kids on the island playing football, but first we need to put a team together.

I invite anyone reading this to get involved in the project. Reading XL FC are creating history, but they need your help. Getting to Nauru isn’t easy, or cheap – and they are funding the trip themselves.

So, if you’d like to donate to the project, you will be doing your bit to support an historic football event. Even better, if you know a marketing director who is looking to raise awareness for a company or organisation in the Reading area, they can support the project – and no doubt benefit from some feel good publicity along the way.

To donate, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/reading-xl-fc-v-dave-kitsons-nauru-national-team

Or, if you know anyone who wants to sponsor Reading XL FC and turn their dream into reality, you can send an email to: mark@davekitsonacademy.co.uk

Oh, and Reading XL FC are on the lookout for new players (of the overweight variety). If you enjoy football and think you can benefit from shedding a few pounds, feel free to get in touch via the email address above. Who knows, you might end up representing England in an international game!

Talking of which, it was a case of job done for Gareth Southgate’s team in Germany against Serbia on Sunday. A win was ultimately all that really mattered, with a clean sheet a bonus.

Depending on when you are reading this, England will either be preparing for their second Group C game against Denmark or their final group game against Slovenia. I’m writing this before the Denmark game and currently feeling confident that we will finish on top of the group.

It’s a bit too early to give an accurate assessment of England’s chances of winning the competition, but we’re in with a shout, there’s no doubt about that. I’m waiting to see how France, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Spain get on in their second and third group games – and who might join them as contenders.

I can’t see a winner coming from outside of England and those five nations, but once we get to the knockout stages, we are bound to see some drama and a few surprises. The last 10 tournaments have produced nine different winners – including Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2004. At least one of the less fancied nations will surprise us.

It’s been a great start to the tournament, with plenty of goals in the opening games. I like the 24-team format. It gives us a chance to see the likes of Albania, Slovenia, Georgia and Slovakia and with three teams qualifying from four of the six groups, it gives one of the competition’s outsiders a chance to cause an upset in the knockout rounds.

Finally for this week, a word on the ownership situation at Reading FC. There does seem to be something brewing, with Rob Couhig mentioned as a potential new owner, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet. He hasn’t exactly been on a charm offensive with the Reading fans, as he tried to buy the club’s Bearwood training ground during his ownership of Wycombe Wanderers. Now, if the latest reports are to be believed, he wants to own the club instead.

Let’s just hope we’ll have some positive news before the start of the season. The sooner a new owner is in place the better, but even then, only time will tell if there will be an upturn in fortunes for the club, or if the Reading fans will be calling for a new owner again in a few years.