Street Soccer

In 2005 a partnership between Manchester City Mission and Barnabus saw a pilot project established in central Manchester. From this venture emerged Street Soccer and the vision to see a project established in each of the boroughs of Greater Manchester. Street Soccer aims to make a positive impact in the lives of young men on many different levels and this has been evidenced in the positive feedback we receive on a constant basis.

"This is the one thing I look forward to in my week. I have nothing else. This is my one bit of hope"                                         

(comment from Street Soccer Salford)

 "My doctor asked me what I'd been doing differently in my life so I told him I'd started playing football. He said I'm the healthiest he has ever seen me" 

(comment from Street Soccer Manchester)

Andy Thorp

A native Mancunian, Andy has an impressive football CV, having gained experience with professional and semi-professional clubs across the North West. From playing with Trafford Football Club to scouting for Rochdale AFC, Andy has built a reputation as a dedicated football practitioner. An FA Level 3 qualified coach Andy currently combines his work in Street Soccer with coaching Salford College in the English Colleges League tapping into his previous experiences of coaching Leigh RMI, Trafford FC and Rochdale AFC u16's. Andy also has experience of working in the community having previously served with Manchester City FIC, Football Focus and Ambassadors in Sport. Founded Street Soccer in 2005 after the successful pilot project in Ardwick, Manchester. 

Simon Murphy

With over 25 years involvement in grassroots football Simon has practical experience of all aspects of club football, including the running of teams and football in the community schemes. In a playing career spanning many years Simon holds the distinction of playing in four consecutive National Christian Cup finals, winning on three occasions, the last of which was as a player/manager in 1997. A career highlight was representing Great Britain at the 1996 Euro Christian Cup held in Jena, Germany. Simon progressed into coaching and management before holding the position of chairman, for the club he served for over 16 years, Bolton Ambassadors FC. An FA Level 2 qualified coach Simon has travelled to many countries in Europe, Asia and America on playing, coaching and coach education tours, dating back to his first ever tour to India and Bangladesh in 1995. Having worked full-time in community football for 10 years Simon joined the Street Soccer staff in January 2009.     

Street Soccer is a compassion based project looking to bring hope, support, motivation and encouragement into the lives of disadvantaged men of Greater Manchester through soccer.

We are focused on excellence providing soccer sessions of the highest standard, as defined by the Football Association.

Street Soccer openly seeks partnerships with other professional agencies in order to deliver an holistic project that provides for physical, psychological and spiritual needs.

Principles & Practice

The success of Street Soccer is based upon an analytical approach to issues, using the following fundamental principles, which are applied in the full knowledge that each individual's case is unique

1) Listening - often our men experience a feeling of isolation as they face up to their issues. 

2) Advice - Based on the expertise of our partner agencies

3) Practical Help - Actions backing up the advice given

4) Mentoring - To support those who need it to ensure complete rehabilitation 

Establishing Boundaries

Boundaries in our lives help us make sense of our daily routine and give us comfort in the knowledge of where we fit in today's society. For a lot of the men we work with these boundaries are either blurred or in many cases non-existent. Through the disciplines required to play team sport we are able to begin to re-establish these boundaries. By challenging what our players think, say and do Street Soccer is able to effect positive change. In some cases the volunteers and staff of Street Soccer are the only voices speaking positively and constructively into their lives!

Partnerships

At Street Soccer we actively seek partnerships with other professional agencies in order that we can deliver an holistic programme that serves the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of all the men we work with. Specialist advice regarding housing, temporary accomodation, employment, education/training and drug/alcohol problems are all available through our partners. The local church also provides a volunteer workforce that is key to the operation of each of our project sites in addition to the mentoring work that takes place on a daily basis throughout Greater Manchester.

Excellence

A common thread through all our Street Soccer projects is the strive for excellence. In order to deliver sessions of the highest standard all our activity is supervised by FA qualified coaches and our staff/volunteers subject to enhanced CRB checks. In addition, our sessions take place at some of the most prestigious facilities available in Greater Manchester, with the Manchester FA headquarters, the base for our Salford project, being a particularly good example of the standard we strive for.