Five men from Birmingham have been picked from hundreds to be part of this year’s England Homeless World Cup team.
The men, four of whom live in homeless accommodation run by St Basil's in the city, have been selected after taking part in regional and national trials earlier this year.
They, along with the rest of the eight-man team, will travel to the tournament in Melbourne, where they will compete against more than 45 other countries in a bid to bring home the Homeless World Cup trophy.
They will be playing street soccer, a version of the game with a squad of eight players, of which a maximum of four are allowed on the pitch at any one time.
The players are all homeless or accessing homelessness services to help them keep their tenancies.
Team member Romain Coleman, aged 23, said it was a “gift from the Big Man” that he had been selected, adding: “It’s been good to meet different people during the trials and I’ve learnt a lot about my personal skills since taking part in this project.”
Romain would love to be a professional footballer but is also interested in mentoring and support work in the future.
His cousin, Tyrone, is also part of the team. Tyrone, aged 23, said: “This is a once in a lifetime experience. I’m really excited. Being part of this is amazing, I’ve made some good friends in the past six months and many of us have had the same kind of difficulties at home.
“There are a lot of young people out there off the rails and they look bad... It’s nice to know that somebody out there is going good and that we can all make a change. I can’t wait to get to Melbourne and do my country proud at the tournament.” Tyrone would like to take his footballing as far as he can and wants to get to a semi-professional level. He is also interested in support work and is set to do a teaching course soon and learn sign language.
Abdi Gaal, aged 20, who is originally from Somalia, has also been selected. He said: “After everything I’ve been through, I never imagined I would one day be representing England at an international tournament.
“My support worker at St Basils encouraged me to take part in the trials and I’m glad I did. It’s made me see that anything is possible.
“The moment you think you’ve dropped down is the moment you’ve got to pick yourself up and go on.”
Abdi’s plans for the future, including completing a Construction Skills Certificate, playing football and being involved in some youth work to help other young people who are homeless.
Ryan Nash, aged 20, is the fourth of this year’s players from St Basil's, a charity that works to prevent youth homelessness by providing accommodation and support services in Birmingham. Ryan, who became homeless when he was 18 after family problems, says it’s brilliant to have made it to the England team.
Martin, aged 20, who is currently living in Wednesbury Foyer, is the team’s goalkeeper. He was kicked out of home at 16 because of family problems but still has contact with his mum. He only started goalkeeping a couple of years ago when he took the place of the usual keeper during a kick-about with some friends.
“It took them an hour to get a ball past me,” he said.
