Welcome House opened in 2020 and Maureen was a volunteer there . It was the Spring of 2021 and she noticed that there were a lot of young men who came to Welcome House for a coffee or a chat, they were housed in hotels, waiting for their application for refugee status to be processed and she noticed they were frightened, non-communicative, had no eye contact and very little or no understanding of the English language. They were anxious, trusted no one and were nervous when approached. Each one had a different story, but most of them had fled their homeland because of war and they felt alone and isolated.
After several months when they had learnt to trust Maureen, she asked them “What do you really need?” The answer “We have nothing to do. We need a football.
We can then go to the park and kick the ball around” and so Maureen got them a ball and with flips flops, on their feet, they proudly went off to the park to kick the football.
Maureen looked at how enthusiastic they were and thought I can do more than this and she set about fulfilling a promise she made to these young men. She told them she would get them playing football, on a pitch and wearing football boots… but how could she achieve that?
Maureen got in touch with the Tigers Trust and in May 2023, the young men were able to attend free football sessions organised by the Tigers Trust and Football Unites https://www.tigerstrust.co.uk https://sportacademies.org/football-unites-fc and they had also been given permission to play football at the Tigers Trust Arena.
Maureen emailed Richard Dexter, our contact at the Tigers Trust and asked ‘How do we form a team, join a league. obtain funding, find a pitch, buy a kit, all we have is loads of enthusiasm, one football and no money!’
In June 2023, Shirley , a volunteer who was responsible for fundraising at Welcome House , came on the scene and Maureen told Shirley how much she wanted to get these young men playing football as it was the one sport they all loved, they all knew the rules and no matter what language they spoke , they could all understand the language of football.
Maureen and Anei
A meeting was arranged with Kayleigh Jackson – Social Inclusion Manager for the Tigers Trust, and attended by Maureen, Shirley and Anei (an asylum seeker who has exceptional leadership qualities). At this meeting we were informed that the government did not allow asylum seekers to play in an official league and so it seemed we had fallen at the first hurdle. However, Kayleigh arranged a further meeting at Welcome House for the 11th August 2023 where she would meet our footballers. The Tigers Trust then donated 20 new pairs of trainers and Kayleigh put us in touch with Chris Johnson, Participation and Communications Officer for East Riding County Football Association. https://www.eastridingfa.com
In October 2023, Chris Johnson met Anei at Welcome House and brought some footballs (we now had more than one!) t-shirts , cones and bibs. Chris told us we could form a team and affiliate it with the East Riding FA.
Shirley then managed to secure a £500 grant from Barclays Sported https://sported.org.uk and this was the turning point in the football story. We now had some money and so it was used to buy some boots, a kit, a ball and Welcome House created their own football team and the last of the money was used to affiliate the team with the East Riding FA.
The Team was called AcornFC because the young man from Welcome House called Anei who was showing such leadership skills , talent and commitment called it after his family name . Anei had fled war torn Sudan and came to Hull seeking Asylum, his family name was Akon, meaning Acorn and he felt it was a new beginning being in Hull and he knew the saying ‘from small Acorns large Oak trees grow’ and he felt this was going to be the story of this newly formed football team.
So we had the kit , the boots , several balls and all we needed now was a place to train.
A local charity called Cosmo Community CIC came to our rescue https://www.cosmocic.org They had been given funding to provide wellbeing sessions for local residents and for disadvantaged groups . This was In November 2023 and twice a week since November, Cosmo has organised a free 5 a side pitch for Acorn FC to practice.
Then Chris Johnson arranged our first match on 19th November, at Hull University 3G pitch. At this stage we had also attracted more young men from Humber View, Ferriby, all wanting to play football and we needed transport to get them to the match. We didn’t have any money for transport and it was too far for them to walk but then another local charity , the St Vincent de Paul Charity www.svp.org.uk came to our rescue , they gave us the money to pay for a coach which would collect the team and supporters and take them to and from the game. Everyone that evening was aware of how many charities and kind people had worked together to make this first match happen.
It was an overwhelming experience for the players, supporters, ERCFA, and East Riding players. No words can describe the meaning of “Active through Football” that evening. 12 nations, twelve languages were united through football. Commemorative medals were presented to each player by Adam Lowthorpe, the Chief Executive of the ERCFA. It was a truly extra-ordinary experience and the young men shone with pride. AcornFC won 10-2, despite never having played on an 11 a side pitch. The acorn was beginning to germinate.
Then they had a setback as they were told they couldn’t play anymore games without shin pads. We had used all the £500 from the Barclays Sported grant and the players didn’t have shin pads or any money to buy them.
An email to Kayleigh from the Tigers Trust to help and this photo shows Kayleigh presenting AcornFC with shin pads so they can play their next game. On 19th December 2023 AcornFC played their second match and won 4-3. They were still training on a 5 a side pitch and so this was only the second time they had played on a full size pitch.
Money was always a problem and by Autumn 2023 we had run out of all funds – a man called Chris Cuthill another volunteer from Welcome House became involved and he and Maureen applied for a grant which included finance for the development of activities. By having faith in us, the Marist Fathers, gave Welcome House the full grant. This can take our team to another level and once again “divine providence” had played a hand. We now had the finances to rent a ground, pay for a referee and most importantly buy them football boots.
Most of our team were still playing in trainers but on 22nd January 2024, Anei returned from Sports Direct with 25 pairs of football boots and 22 base tops. Maureen had kept her promise.
What was now becoming apparent to everyone involved in this project was that it wasn’t just a game of football, it meant so much more to these young men.Through football, there was camaraderie, it was breaking down language barriers, integrating local people with asylum seekers and it was giving our young men a reason to get up every day. They felt for the first time since entering this country that they belonged, they were a part of something .
On 23rd January 2024 Kayleigh from the Tigers Trust invited Anei 
and representatives of the team to the Arena and donated a second football kit. The training sessions were now attracting enough strong players to form another team.
We now had AcornFC blue team as well as AcornFC green team.
Kayleigh then introduced us to Tony Baker, Active Through Football Officer for Hull Culture and Leisure Ltd. https://footballfoundation.org.uk/active-through-football Tony works closely with the Peel Street project https://www.thepeelproject.org.uk/ and is looking to set up some regular fixtures with Acorn FC. Tony is also setting up another FA affiliated football club through ATF which will provide more teams for Acorn FC to play against locally, this could open up a whole new direction for our football team,
On 12th February 2024 we introduced Tony to Anei, who had now become a very competent manager, trainer, organiser of 82 young men all wanting to play football. Together they have plans for the future.
Tony is going to form several teams from the young men training with him as part of the Peel Street Community Project. He will affiliate these teams with the ERCFA and together we want to establish a mini football league from teams wanting to play friendly matches in Hull because they are not allowed to join any established league.
AcornFC had played 3 competitive matches, but as we now had 2 kits and 82 keen players and some money, we decided to let our 2 teams play one another. We hired a venue and a referee and on 10th March 2023 our proud young men donned their kits and AcornFC Blue team and AcornFC green team were ready to play in their first ever inter house match.
AcornFC had actually never lost in its history of its 3 competitive games , the players liked the feeling of winning so this was going to be an exciting game and someone was going to have to lose….. but which team?
Coach Anei felt he had got two very competitive teams together and so they went on the pitch and warmed up. It was 5,30pm on a March evening and the light was failing and so both teams warmed up, waiting for the floodlights to come on…. But nothing happened!
They warmed up in failing light and then they encountered failing lights… not the outcome we expected.
The floodlights refused to come on and so the match had to be postponed.
In fairness the venue moved us indoors and we played on a 7 a side pitch, different footwear, different tactics and a new experience for everyone . It showed our teams are certainly adaptable , the play was fast and exciting …. And the score … 2 -2 and so both teams still remain unbeaten.
AcornFc football team and their supporters.
This powerful story is the culmination and determination of one lady, Maureen and a promise she made . It shows the power of football: it is more than just a sport. It enables people who are feeling alone and isolated to be part of something good and positive. It makes them feel that they belong. It unites communities in a way you wouldn’t think possible, and individuals and charities all want to come to together to make it happen.
It wouldn’t have possible without the help of all those mentioned, everyone played a part in getting us to this point , and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped. We are always in need of funds to keep this dream alive, but that small Acorn is well on the way to becoming a Giant Oak Tree.
Future matches are as follows:
Sunday 14th April, rematch between AcornFC greens and blues
Tuesday 16th April ,AcornFC play Leeds ATF at the Tigers Trust Arena
June 2nd Humberside Police Family Fun Day – North Cave. Acorn FC v Fishers 11.30am
Sat 27th July HANA World Cup Tournament 2024– Hull University
July Presentation Night
