For the first time in years I felt part of something
Real-life stars behind Homeless World Cup uplifting film The Beautiful Game
‘‘ We thought what language do they have in common? Football
Craig McManus almost didn’t go along to the football training that changed his life. “I think it took me two or three attempts to go,” the former semi-professional footballer says.
“I’d leave the house and stop… leave the house and stop.”
Back then he was living in an addiction recovery hostel, trying to get himself to Tuesday night training in Edinburgh’s Portobello.
The games were organised by Street Soccer, which offers free football training and development to disadvantaged groups.
“They said, ‘Mate, here’s your bib, go on and play’. For the first time in years, I felt part of something, without even being part of it yet.”
Now 48, Craig went on to captain Scotland at the 2016 Homeless World Cup in Glasgow – before becoming England manager for the Mexico City and Cardiff tournaments in 2018 and 2019. He now works at Middlesbrough FC.
His story has much in common with thousands of players who have taken part in Homeless World Cups over the past two decades – and a new film, The Beautiful Game.
Co-produced by actor and HWC ambassador Colin Farrell and written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce who was behind the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, it tells of the English team and their coach – played by Bill Nighy – as they head to the global tournament.
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward plays Vinny, a reluctant striker who, like Craig, was living in his car before street football helped him rebuild his life.
The Homeless World Cup was founded over a pint at a conference of international street papers in South Africa in 2001.
Mel Young, founder of Big Issue Scotland, and Harald Schmied, a former semi-pro footballer from Graz, Austria, who edited Das Megaphon, had been lamenting the absence of homeless people at their conference.
“We thought, how can we get them involved?” Mel says. “What language do they all have in common? Football!”
By the end of the night the two men had bet their homeless team would beat the other – only for the editors of all the other street papers to declare their own national teams would win.
Since then, the Homeless World Cup Foundation has helped more than 1.2 million people globally to change their lives. There are now 70 member countries, and at the last tournament, Sacramento 2023, there were 232 games across eight days and 2,276 goals scored.
Hibs fan Mel’s passion for footie is as infectious as his appetite for the battle for social justice is limitless.
“People call me naive, but I believe we can end homelessness,” he says. “We can put people on the moon, create an internet and watch movies on our phones. If there’s a will, we can end homelessness.
“Instead, it’s going backwards. It’s a nonsense that it’s a lifestyle choice. Rough sleeping is really dangerous. It’s structural system failure – and that requires us to think in a new way.”
The first Homeless World Cup was held in Graz in 2003, with 18 countries comping. “Harald and I had a moment here we watched the Dutch team parading through the streets with people applauding them,” Mel said. “These were homeless people usually spat on and attacked. People were standing up and clapping them. We realised this was really, really profound.”
Homeless World Cups have since been played in cities all over the globe, from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro to under the Eiffel Tower.
“Homeless people were usually
in city centres so we decided to take the pitch to the people,” Mel says. “Most city centres couldn’t fit 11-a-side so we made it four-a-side with squads of eight players and rolling substitutions.
“We knew lots of homeless people aren’t fit enough for 90 minutes with health issues and addictions, so we made it seven minutes each way. It also means you can pop in for free in your lunchbreak and see three games.”
This September, the Homeless World Cup will be played in Asia for the first time, in Seoul, South Korea. Mel will pause to remember his friend Harald, who died from motor neurone disease in 2018. The men last spoke during the FIFA World Cup of that year, with Harald communicating using his eye and a computer.
“He kept his humour right to the end, joking about football,” Mel says. “I miss him terribly.” In 2018, they introduced the Harald Schmied trophy, to honour him at the tournament.
But in the beginning, Mel explains, it wasn’t about great football skills. “Then the South Americans joined,” he laughs. The Mexico women’s team have won eight times, the men four times. “In Mexico, 30,000 homeless people are in a street league,” Mel says. Many crowds find street football a refreshing antidote to the money-soaked professional game. “The first tournament saw a big rivalry game between Germany and Holland. The Dutch won – the Dutch goalkeeper ran to the other end of the pitch and picked up the German and put him on his shoulders. The place was going crazy. This is what sport should be about.
“There are people there who’ve almost died from drug abuse or domestic abuse or appalling situations of all kinds, all joining together.”
In South Africa 2006, the then-President Mbeki came out on the balcony made famous by Mandela to applaud their parade.
“A president saluting homeless people,” Mel says.
The actor Michael Sheen even spent his own money bringing the tournament to Bute Park in Cardiff in 2019.
Sarah Frohwein is a goalkeeper who played for Wales under-15s and Port Talbot Ladies before a combination of miscarriage and becoming temporarily homeless led her mental health to deteriorate. She became ill with depression and was admitted to hospital in Sheen’s hometown. A therapy centre suggested the charity Street Football. Now 33, she went on to play for Wales in the 2017 Homeless World Cup in Oslo before becoming a referee at the Cardiff tournament and in Sacramento. “It makes people realise anyone who is homeless isn’t worthless,” she says. “It gave me life.
“People think a game of football is simple, but it has genuinely given me life again.”
Mel says the Homeless World Cup is much more than the sum of its parts. “I can’t really explain it, except to say it’s magic,” he says. “It’s also a lesson in how football is a game only as beautiful as those taking part.”
■ Watch The Beautiful Game on Netflix from March 29
‘‘ People think the game is simple but it’s genuinely given me life