Club chaplains answer call-up

EVERYONE in football is looking for some kind of guidance at the moment.

So it should come as no surprise that club chaplains have been in demand since the sport closed its doors.

Like the rest of the football fraternity, they have had to adapt to the uncertainty of lockdown.

Matt Baker (above), club chaplain at Charlton Athletic, is the pastoral support director in English football.

And he reports that chaplains throughout the Premier League and Football League have been a very active presence.

Baker said: “The challenge our chaplains have faced is how you can be ‘present’ without being physically present. These are people who would usually be at the training ground and making themselves available to the players on a daily basis, so it’s great to hear how some are adapting.

“The Sheffield United chaplain has been sending handwritten notes to members of staff, which is something they appreciate – we are used to a

Whatsapp message or an email, but a handwritten note says something else.

“Some of us have been hosting a Zoom Bible-study group. Birmingham have been doing the same with their players, too.

“Chaplains from Bristol City and Macclesfield have been posting messages on the club’s websites – letting people know they’re available.

“The Norwich City chaplain ran seven marathons in seven days last year and this year he did the same on a treadmill to raise funds for their local Covid-19 relief fund.

“They have also done something with a local school – the football club and the church together – to deliver 400 parcels of essentials to the school.

“We are all in this together and everyone is mixing in to help each other.”

The football community is coming together in ways that would have been unthinkable before the current crisis.

Baker added: “I’d like to think that some of the positives, in terms of helping one another in sport, will see a positive change when football returns.”