David Kennedy is one of a hand-picked squad representing England at the Homeless World Cup in Oslo
A team of formidable footballers are striking out for England and hoping to replicate the success of the Lionesses at the 20th annual Homeless World Cup in Oslo next week.
Finishing second to Mexico last year, the England line-up have their sights firmly set on the trophy, as they compete against 39 other countries between August 23 and 30.
And all the teams are made up of players who have experienced homelessness.
The initiative was launched in 2003, football has been playing its part to tackle homelessness and social isolation.
Striker David Kennedy, 28, says football allows him to “get out of my head” when he’s on the pitch – and he’s built life-long friendships with his teammates, too.
“I had a rough childhood and was in and out of hostels for a lot of it,” he tells The Mirror, ahead of the tournament.
David, who is originally from Sunderland and now lives in Newcastle, was hand-picked for the squad because of his promising talent.
But, his life used to be very different.
“I find it tough to talk about now,” he admits. “It wasn’t easy. I went down the wrong path at a young age. It took me a long time to realise the importance of friendship groups and surrounding myself with good people.”
David’s behaviour became “uncontrollable” when he hit his teenage years and he was placed in foster care.
“There’ve been many occasions where I’ve slept on the streets,” he says. “I wasn’t the best behaved as a teenager. I never had that family union thing”
But the birth of his son, now four, helped David start the process of turning his life around after he met girlfriend Tyler, who was also going through homelessness.
“He’s a cheeky chap, he must take after his father!” smiles David.
“He’s a blessing. He’s done everything for me. I wasn’t in a very good place but I met my partner in a hostel and everything in my life changed. All I do now is go to work and play football. It’s a good life.”
After experiencing everything from sofa-surfing at mates’ houses to sleeping rough, through homelessness, David says the only way to get through it is to “never give up”.
“You’ve just got to be strong mentally,” he says. “No matter how low you are, and no matter how far down the line you feel, there’s always an up. There’s a higher place. Just never give up.”
David’s mental health deteriorated during his periods of homelessness – at one point making him feel suicidal. “Now I look at my life and I’m just grateful for everything that I have around me,” he says.
Admitting he needed help was the starting point.
“You need to find the right support network; you need to make the effort to make yourself available to get help when you need help instead of shutting off from the world,” he points out.
“Unfortunately, you won’t get anywhere without a bit of help. And it took a lot out of me to admit that, growing up.”
From a young age, playing football helped David take his mind off his living conditions.
“As I’ve gone through things, the more I’ve played, the more football is like an escape mechanism,” he explains.
“It takes me away from all my problems. I always think about my childhood and things like that, but on the pitch I can clear my mind and just focus on the game.”
Squad manager Craig McManus – who has previously been homeless himself – says he couldn’t be prouder of all his players for their work on and off the pitch.
“The big thing for us is changing perspective and stigma,so when we speak to David, we don’t see David’s childhood; we see David the way he is today and the direction he’s going in,” says Craig.
“That’s why he’s been selected – not just because he’s a great footballer, but he’s got a real opportunity in his life and he’s worked so hard to get where he is today.”
All of the Team England players have been hand-picked from Street Soccer London and its partners in the north of England.
Street Soccer London organises weekly training sessions for men and women who are, or have experienced, homelessness, and has seen a 94 percent reduction in rough sleeping in its members since launching in 2009.
“We’ve got a team of athletes here who have the chance to represent our country and are also learning skills that are so important in day-to-day life,” says Craig.
“It’s about how they prepare for a training session, raising their own standards, learning how to get themselves ready on and off the pitch, and hopefully these develop into real life skills.
“We have high hopes for them now, that they’ll move on to bigger, better things.
“I think what we do is give them the platform to hopefully grow and then move on – whatever they feel is right.”
Player Kaydan Fenton, 23, from London, spent some time sleeping in a shed after family tensions boiled over.
“I felt under pressure to move out,” he says. But football, through Street Soccer London, became a lifeline.
“It gives me a chance to express myself on the pitch, to clear my mind for a second and just focus on the game. Football is an outlet for me and I have a passion for it.”
Being homeless, he adds, is never easy. “It puts you in uncomfortable positions and sometimes people feel pressured into doing things they don’t want to do in order to survive.”
One football star who knows exactly what it’s like to walk a mile in their boots is former Lioness Fara Williams MBE, who retired from England in 2021 and was there to commentate on the 2022 Women’s Euro final.
She has previously spoken of how isolating it was to be living on the streets after a family relationship breakdown when she was 17, and how she pretended to her teammates that everything at home was fine.
“People have a judgement of who should be homeless and who shouldn’t, and I felt people would judge me,” Fara said in 2014.
“I put on a brave face and lived my life as a normal person would, as though I was living at home.”
Now a mentor for players at the Homeless World Cup, Fara also credited football with turning her life around, after former England coach Hope Powell found out about her situation when Fara was representing the U-19s.
She escaped homelessness in her 20s after getting work as an FA community coach and moving to Merseyside.
Fara went on to help transform the women’s game, and made a record 172 appearances for England between 2001 and 2019.
And, as England prepares to take on the other teams in the tournament, David hopes his team can bring home the trophy for the first time.
“The opportunity to represent my country in Oslo is life-changing,” he grins. “It gives me a sense of pride. I hope when my son is a teenager I’ll be able to look back and show him what I did.”
*You can stream Team England’s matches on via youtube.com/@HomelessWorldCup
