2013 Homeless World Cup

The home of the Poznan today plays host to another football tradition: the Homeless World Cup

Poznan, Poland, is familiar to many football fans, not least because of the 2012 Euros as well as the iconic ‘doing the Poznan’ crowd cheer, during which fans turn their backs to the pitch, link arms, and jump in semi-unison.

But it’s about to play host to another iconic footballing tradition: that of the Homeless World Cup (HWC).

Now in its 11th year, the HWC is an annual event for homeless and marginalised people—a kind of conference about and for addressing homelessness through the international and language of football.

Departing, coincidentally, for the event in the national week dedicated to awareness about homelessness, The Big Issue Australia’s ‘Street Socceroos’ will be one of 62 teams competing for the coveted HWC trophy through eight days of sprint-like football matches played out in seven-minute halves on pitches roughly the size of tennis courts.

At the team’s send-off in Sydney, Football Federation Australia big boss David Gallop spoke of how ‘to get together, kick a ball around, and develop that sense of community is very important to Australia as a nation’.

‘As the world gets smaller, football gets bigger,’ said Gallop. So too does its benefits, with the event as much—if not more—about the off-pitch benefits than the on-pitch scores. In fact, Les Murray, who experienced the HWC first hand when Australia hosted it in Melbourne in 2008, said it is most satisfying event he’s ever been involved with.

The Street Socceroos have a long-established reputation for their generous spirit in which they play, rounding out each match with a rendition of unofficial Australia anthem Waltzing Matilda.

Having won the Fair Play award at the last two HWC’s they attended, the Street Socceroos are aiming for three from three.

They’re well placed to do so, with a team comprising of seven skilled and compassionate players (including, for the first time, four hailing from indigenous heritage). They’ve been selected from their community-based street soccer programs, which have already delivered some impressively heart-warming results.

Adelaide-based Geoff won player of the tournament at national titles earlier in the year and is now the Street Socceroos captain. Modelling his playing style on that of Messi, he got involved with football at his brother’s recommendation and when he was at his lowest ebb. He and his brother went on to reconnect his Sydney-based mother, whom they hadn’t seen in 20 years, when she came down to cheer them on at the 2013 national titles at Darling Harbour.

Goalkeeper Adam encountered TBI’s street soccer program just two years ago when, living on the streets, he happened upon the street soccer national titles. He stopped to enquire about the event and promptly signed up to play, crediting the involvement with changing his life.

One of the youngest players in the team and blessed with an infectious smile, the lean and athletic Rok has been affectionately dubbed ‘The Rok’, presumably a nod to the enormously muscled wrestler-turned-actor The Rock. He arrived in Australia as a refugee from South Sudan, a civil war-torn country that just weeks ago celebrated its second tenuous year of independence.

He’s joined by: Brisbane-based Eric, who combines his football skills with representative rugby league and a career as an emerging artist; Matthew from Newcastle, who can scarcely believe going for a kick around on a football pitch one Thursday afternoon in a bid to get back on track from some mental health issues could lead to him going to Poland; quiet achiever Bernard from Ballarat, who’s been involved with the street soccer program for three years; and Suzie, the team’s sole female player, who also works at The Big Issue’s Women's Subscription Enterprise.

National coach George Halkias has travelled with the team all seven times they’ve attended the event, making him, as former Socceroo Craig Foster quipped, second only to Brazilian legend Carlos Alberto Parreira in terms of World Cup coaching experience.

Foster called the Street Socceroos ‘the real champions’, with any of the results from the HWC a bonus to their efforts to date. ‘What you’ve done in your own lives to even be here, wearing that shirt, is something very special. And we’re all are very proud of what you’ve achieved.’

The HWC will play out in Poznan, Poland from August 11–18 and the Street Socceroos are in Group D with: