“WINNING is fantastic but it’s not our goal – it’s supporting each other on the pitch that counts.”
It’s not exactly your typical manager’s pre-match huddle talk, but then South London’s Saving Souls FC aren’t your typical football team.
While winning is a bonus, the real focus of the team, who are supported by National Lottery funding, is scoring victories over issues men face with their mental health.
“I’m an Arsenal season ticket holder – I go by myself, home and away, and end up talking to so many different people,” says Kerry Phillips, Saving Souls’ founder, manager and “head of laundry”.
“During lockdown, I realised that for me football is about more than 22 men kicking a ball.
“It’s a point of connection with other people that nurtures my soul.”
Kerry, 36, from Catford, felt isolated during lockdown and reached out to friends on the phone.
He sensed they were experiencing loneliness too but he couldn’t broach the subject.
“It was frustrating. It’s that ‘Men don’t talk about their feelings’ thing.”
Kerry did some research and realised there was a problem. According to mental health charity Mind, 43 per cent of men regularly feel low but 28 per cent say embarrassment stops them seeking help.
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Men from minority ethnic groups are even less likely to access help than their white counterparts.
“In 2017, I had therapy and that helped me understand my own mental health issues,” Kerry says.
“As a child and young man I was overweight and lacked self-esteem, masking it with an outgoing persona.
“Even after I lost 14st in my mid-twenties, I lacked confidence. Finally, turning 30, I faced up to my issues. That gave me tools for dealing with things.”
Lockdown knocked his sense of self all over again. He wondered if there was something he could do to improve the mental health of men in his community.
A couple of years earlier he’d organised a charity football match for his church – over-thirties versus under-thirties.
“It was an intergenerational bonding session,” he says. “Was there a way of replicating that on a regular basis?”
Kerry contacted the London Football Association and enquired about setting up a club with the aim of encouraging men to talk.
Next, he rang Bellingham Leisure Centre, close to his home, and asked about hiring a pitch.
Within weeks he had bagged a spot in the South London Grassroots Football League. Now all he needed was a team.
TALKING A GOOD GAME
“I came up with the name Saving Souls FC and set up an Instagram account and promoted the first training session in 2021,” he says.
“Sitting there on my own, I was nervous people wouldn’t turn up. But ten showed. Now Saving Souls has 88 members in its WhatsApp group.”
Training takes place every other Friday evening, matches mostly on weekdays. And on the last Thursday of every month, Saving Souls holds a men’s forum.
If people have specific problems they want to discuss, Kerry can signpost them to organisations like Citizens Advice and StepChange, the debt charity.
“We’re very diverse, with different religions and cultures,” he says. “Ages too – our oldest member is 58 and his son is the youngest at 18.
“Friendships form – two members went into business together, while another felt strong enough to come off antidepressants through the boost playing gave him.”
The team are achieving on the pitch too, winning the Grassroots League in 2022 with a goal difference of 137 and being named London FA Grassroots Project of the Year.
Last year, Kerry successfully applied for National Lottery funding.
“The FA gave us funding but I was spending my own money too,” he says.
“We pay to hire the pitch, for example, but people might be struggling so sessions are free. National Lottery support was a lifesaver.”
National Lottery players support health and wellbeing projects near you, like Saving Souls FC – the club helping people to improve their wellbeing and mental health through free weekly football matches.
The National Lottery is also the proud sponsor of The Sun’s Who Cares Win Awards 2023, celebrating people, like Kerry, who put caring into everyday action.
This season, Saving Souls FC have taken a break from the Grassroots League. “To give other teams a chance,” Kerry jokes.
Instead, they’re organising matches with community groups, including teams of asylum seekers and Forces veterans.
The club are welcoming women too, with free self-defence classes and plans for a women’s team.
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Saving souls through winning and, as importantly, cheerfully conceding goals: it’s a simple concept but it works.
Back of the net, Kerry and team.
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