Players find new sense of community at Homeless World Cup

Published on Sunday 7 December 2008 21:56

LIKE most of the players at this week's Homeless World Cup, Scotland captain Stephen Docherty's life bares no resemblance to that of a conventional international footballer.

Docherty does not have an expensive car, designer clothes or lucrative contract. He doesn't even have a home to go back to once the competition is over.

The brainchild of Scottish "social entrepreneur" Mel Young, the annual Homeless World Cup is now in its sixth year, with some 500 players representing 56 nations with their own version of the world game known as "street football" in the heart of Melbourne's city district.

There are a few routes to be eligible – none are easy. Players must be over 16 and have been homeless at some point in the past year, or earn their main income as a street paper vendor, or be an asylum seeker, or be in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and have been homeless at some time in the past two years.

Tens of thousands of football fans, office workers and curious tourists packed the purpose-built stadiums at the downtown Federation Square and nearby Birrarung Marr Park during the week-long tournament.

"In this world today there are one billion people who are homeless and that is not sustainable for our globe," Young told the players ahead of Monday's opening match between hosts Australia and Austria. "And I say to the players, you are fantastic ambassadors for homeless people. Play fair and stand proud."

More than 5,000 crammed into the temporary stadium in Federation Square to watch Afghanistan beat Russia 5-4 in the men's final yesterday.

Docherty had to watch from the sidelines after his squad went down to Russia in the semis.

In his younger days Docherty, 37, represented Glasgow's Shamrock Boys Club in the Scottish Amateur Football League, but his promising sporting career was derailed by a drug addiction.

"As I grew up and got involved with drugs, I lost all contact with sport," said Docherty, who was raised in Greenock. "All I was interested in was taking drugs and dealing drugs and making money. That overtook my life."

After spending ten years in prison for various convictions and battling drug addiction, Docherty says taking part in the Homeless World Cup is a chance to truly turn his life around.

"People start treating you differently and let you see that you're worth something and you're not hopeless, you're not worthless, you're not useless," he said. "You can actually do something with your life. I look at where I was, and now I've been asked to captain my country and come over here."

The Melbourne tournament has included a women's competition for the first time. Zambia defeated Liberia 7-1 in the final.

With the player eligibility encompassing people made homeless by war, Docherty says he counts himself as one of the luckier participants at the Cup.

"It's heartbreaking. The players in our team are quite well off compared with some of the people here, but football brings us all together. No one's better than anyone else and we're all sportsmen."