“I want us to go as far as we can go”
|Thomas Zwölfer played football for the first time as a 30-year-old, now it’s a key part of his life. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“(As the goalkeeper) I am the last man on the field”
Thomas Zwölfer represented Austria at the Wroclaw Cup in Poland in July 2022. The Wroclaw Cup is an annual street football tournament organised by our Polish partner Stowarzyszenie Reprezentacja Polski Bezdomnych (Polish Homeless National Streetsoccer Team Association).
The key to being a good goalkeeper, 35-year-old Thomas Zwölfer explains is “being able to stand up and fight again.”
This lesson in resilience, doesn’t only frame his approach to football, but also his resolution for life. Whatever happens, he will get back up again.
This is a brave outlook for anyone, but particularly powerful coming from Thomas who has faced demons throughout his life.
As a child, life for Thomas was dominated by violence from his angry and abusive stepdad. Wanting to find an escape and create an alternative world, he started to take drugs. This ultimately led to years of addiction and periods of homelessness.
“I don’t have a good life, I started early with drugs, and I was homeless. I was homeless three times, three times I lost my place because of being addicted to drugs.”
As well as the memories that haunt him from his childhood, Thomas’s mind has also played tricks on him. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he has struggled with hallucinations and found it hard to distinguish his thoughts from reality.
In 2019 when hallucinations became unbearable Thomas removed himself from society: “The last time was very, very bad. I had to stay in the forest for six months. I was seeing things that weren’t real, I was very afraid of people, so I hid in the forest. It was very difficult for me at that time.”
For six months Thomas lived in a wood near Vienna, never seeing people apart from when he went to get food from a nearby shop.
|"At first, I was very nervous because I had stopped playing for two years.” Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“The devil got to me”
Thomas explains; “I got this sign in my head this was not real” and checked himself into the local hospital, where he stayed and received treatment for a year.
“I have only one explanation, the devil got to me. The devil has gone now, finished.”
Growing up Thomas never had a chance to play games or try football, he only played for the first time as a thirty-year-old. Now it’s become a key part of his life and his recovery.
“I was in the hospital for about a year and this year I got a chance to play again.
“It’s a very good feeling [playing football]. At first, I was very nervous because I had stopped playing for two years. Now I have the great feeling again.”
Thomas is “very proud” to be playing for Austria and to be part of the team. He explains, “It’s a great success. We don’t know each other long, but we are a great team, we stay together.”
Thomas first represented Austria at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico and at the Wroclaw Cup in 2018.
“Mexico was great, it was the first time I was there in my life. It was the biggest tournament I have ever played. There were 42 countries, it was a great feeling to be there.
“We have a good trainer and a good co-trainer, he’s always with us. Oliver was also a goalie [at the Homeless World Cup] in Glasgow in 2016. I learned a lot from him. Oliver is very good, a great person.”
As the goalkeeper, Thomas explains: “I am the last man on the field. Street soccer is very fast, the walls are very difficult for the goalkeeper.
“I want us to go as far as we can go. I love street soccer; I love Poland and now we can play football.”
Our partner in Austria is Homeless World Cup Austria, the team is managed by staff from Caritas.
Find out more about the team and their work in Austria supporting people who are homeless and socially isolated.
Words: Rebecca Corbett