Caroline Coxon

Leigh Roose is already one of my case studies, and he is a fascinating chap – someone, I forget who, is writing a whole book on his antics! He played for several clubs, all of whom claim him as their own! (Including Celtic for whom he only played one game, I recollect! ) That’s what I meant about the database being problematic!

I work for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and am creating a website, supported by the FA, Premiership, PFA, Football Foundation etc. and due to be launched for this year's remembrance time - November. ‘The Glory Days’ will be very much an interactive website. It’s aimed particularly at lads who don’t do so well with traditional learning methods. The idea is to use football as a means to spark their interest – in the history of the two world wars, the contribution and sacrifices that so many men and women made, (perhaps even members of their own family) and the importance of remembering them with respect – which is, of course, what the Commonwealth War Graves Commission sets out to do. In a lively and engaging way, we’ll be telling some of the stories of footballers who served and died, and some football-related war stories. The site is not intended to be academic. It is created primarily to engage, entertain and inform. If some of our target audience then go on to further research as a result of what they’ve seen, then we’ll be doubly satisfied!

Long-time teacher for children with special needs in Sussex and Kent, in 2002 I decided to branch out into a more global form of making a difference, since writing is what I enjoy above anything else. I was Head of Schools Programmes at the Commonwealth Institute for a time, and am now a full-time freelance writer. Although an English and Literacy specialist – next book ‘Help Your Child with Literacy (Continuum Books) out at the end of April 2007 - I’ve been commissioned to write books and websites covering Citizenship and History as well. My major contract is with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for whom I work as education consultant. I have produced their website, Remember Me, and three CD-ROMs which recreate the stories of some of the people commemorated by the CWGC. The latest Let Us Die Like Brothers, about black South Africans in the First World War, has been short-listed for a Focal Award – 'Best use of Footage in a Training, Education or Corporate Production'. ‘The Glory Days – Football in Times of War is my latest venture with the CWGC and will take the form of an interactive website, to be launched in Autumn 2007. I live in rural Sussex and in my spare time I write screenplays, ride my horse and exercise our three Labradors.” Remember Me: http://www.cwgc.org/education/secondary.htm