SPAIN FOOTBALL – ‘THE SHIRT’

I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of football fans, who have recently achieved two extraordinary feats!  Both were in aid of a very good cause and both justify your support.

Bjorn Heidenstrom has just cycled from Oslo to South Africa!  This was an astonishing journey that took 333 days to complete – just short of a full year!  He did this to raise awareness for the world’s 45 million refugees who have no home and, all too often, almost no hope. His chosen partner was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

So, what has this to do with football -  you may well ask? 

Well, along the way to South Africa, Bjorn Heidenstrom collected football shirts, which were sewn together to form the world’s biggest ever shirt – which was on display during the World Cup in South Africa during the summer.  The Guinness Book of Records was involved and massive support was given by FIFA, UEFA and hundreds of other football clubs.  These ranged from the very biggest (Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool) to the most humble level 7 clubs in hamlets in deepest Latvia.  Further support was provided by celebrities such as Sir Elton John, Iron Maiden, Slade and The Liverpool Legends.

Needless to say, many other national football associations also supported Bjorn Heidenstrom from Bhutan to Belgium and Ireland to Italy – in an incredible display of unity from the football industry.

Meanwhile, Bjorn Heidenstrom’s great friend Steve Hall, for the same cause, cycled to all the 92 football league grounds in England and Wales!  These, as we all know, are not conveniently linked to each other.  So, Steve Hall ended up cycling almost 3,000 miles, over three months, collecting football shorts along the way, to give to Bjorn.  Steve’s no ‘spring chicken’, so visiting all 92 clubs was no mean feat!

Both Bjorn Heidenstrom and Steve Hall, to their credit, have finished their epic journeys.  However, this does not mean that they have walked away from their aim to raise the plight of refugees in the world. 

Far from it!

They are still collecting football shirts for The Shirt and need your support.  Do you have one that you can send them?  If you have, then please go to The Shirt and support a truly worthwhile cause.

I travel constantly all round the world and I see hardship almost wherever I go. 

In fact, one of my greatest rewards is nurturing a player who has often grown up in appalling hardship – often within an environment in which there was no hope.  To see that player go through one of the acadamies I work with in Central or South America and then achieve success.  Well, that is amazingly rewarding!  More so than I can say.

So, to help a cause that raises the awareness of people in touble is something that strikes deeply within me – and so it should with you.

Am I going to support The Shirt and send Bjorn and Steve a football shirt?

Are you kidding?  Of course – and it will be a really good one. 

Truly, I hope that you will do the same.  Please do and show that, as football fans, we look much further than just the next game…

RELEVANT INFO:  Bjorn Heidenstrom’s journey

 and Steve Hall and the 92