There was a point 20 years ago on the streets of Graz, Austria, when Homeless World Cup co-founder Mel Young knew his idea to host a global football tournament for people experiencing homelessness was a winner.
He was standing alongside fellow founder Harald Schmied in a temporary stand watching a crowd packed together waiting for the football to kick off on the street in front of them.
Young heard a “hubbub” and turned to see what was happening. It was applause for a team of Dutch footballers making their way down from their accommodation – and they were being viewed in a totally new light.
“That’s homeless people walking down the street and people are applauding them. It’s incredible,” Young says, casting his mind back to 2003.
“There was something very profound that happened because the day before these people are being spat at in the street. Or the media is talking about them as if they’re the reason for the collapse of the country’s GDP or whatever. As if they’re all evil.
“All that’s happened is we’ve created a football pitch, put soccer tops on them and the whole place is applauding them. It’s the same person, we just changed the backdrop. We could see these sorts of things happening in front of our eyes.
“It just made it very, very special. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years, it feels like yesterday in some ways.”
Two decades on and the Homeless World Cup is back, kicking off in Sacramento, California, USA on 8 July.
The life-affirming tournament is usually an annual competition showcasing how sport can be used to create community, bring inclusion and use sport as a vehicle for positive
