Goal!

The Homeless World Cup was conceived during a discussion in a beach bar in Cape Town in 2001 between Mel Young and Harald Schmied, who were relaxing after an international conference about selling street papers. They were discussing how best homeless street paper sellers could benefit from the international dimension of their work and agreed that football was an international language that everybody understood, so they decided to organise a football tournament.

The first homeless World Cup took place in Graz, Austria, in April 2003, and it was such a phenomenal success that the organisers agreed to make the event annual. The second Homeless World Cup was held in Gothenburg in July 2004, and the third one in Edinburgh in July 2005.

This remarkable book documents the entire project, focusing on the glorious atmosphere in Graz and Gothenburg, the philosophy behind the tournament, the psychological team-building, the impact of poverty worldwide and, most importantly, the players themselves, who were transformed from society's outcasts into heroes. Some players have even signed up to professional football clubs.

Professional clubs like Manchester United and sports giant Nike have donated time and sponsorship to the tournament, whilst the world's governing football authorities, such as UEFA, as well as the United Nations, are now offering support to develop street soccer as a tool to tackle homelessness and exclusion.