ENGLAND 08 TEAM LAUNCHED
Posted by England - 16/09/2008
Manchester United Foundation and The Big Issue in the North are calling on members to the public to show their support for this year's England Homeless World Cup team, which was officially launched last week.
The squad of eight players have been selected from hundreds of hopefuls who attended regional and then national trials held since January. In November, they will travel to the tournament in Australia, to compete against over forty-five other countries in a bid to bring home the coveted Homeless World Cup trophy.
Hopes are high this year of victory for England, who came second in the very first Homeless World Cup tournament in 2002 but who have steadily fallen down the rankings ever since.
Louis Garvey, Manchester United Foundation coach said: “We've picked the squad earlier this year and had more people than ever before try out to be part of the team. There are some brilliant players representing England and we're all doing the best we possibly can to do our country proud at the tournament. We now need people in England to rally behind these lads and show their support for them as they travel to Australia to represent their country.”
The players, who come from across the country including Birmingham, London, Bristol and Oldham, are all homeless or accessing homelessness services to help them keep their tenancies.
Richard Brown, Homeless World Cup England Team manager from The Big Issue in the North, said: “The lads who have made it into the final squad of eight players should be very proud of their achievements. Projects like this prove that sport can have a dramatic effect in turning people's lives around and I'm sure that every one of these lads will find the Homeless World Cup tournament a literally life changing experience.”
Previous England team players have gone on to do coaching, played semi-professional football and moved on into further training and employment as a direct result of the motivation and enhanced self-esteem gained from taking part in the project.
As well as attending the tournament, which takes place in December, all eight squad members have had the opportunity to do their coaching level one badges thanks to the FA. They will also be travelling out a week before the start of the tournament to run some football training sessions in local Melbourne schools.
Members of the public can support the team by taking part in a special text competition to win a place for their child (aged 9 – 11 years) to walk on to the pitch with the visiting side in the England v Kazakhstan game at Wembley in October.
To nominate a child for the competition simply text HWC to 84424. Texts cost £3 with at least £2 going direct to England’s Homeless World Cup Team to help with their preparations for the tournament. The closing date for texts is September 29th and the lucky winner will be drawn, at random, on September 30th. For information about the competition call 0151 702 69 33.
The winning child will also receive two tickets to the game for their parents or guardians to come with them to the match, which takes place on 11th October.
The England Team have been funded by the Football Association and the Erach and Roshan Sadri Foundation.
