FC Strongbow lift the Marc Viven Foe Fairplay award
Why refugee Charlie is out to win the cup
Skillfully heading the ball, Charlie Okeny takes part in a training session far removed from the tough football matches he played in the Sudanese refugee camps where he spent his childhood.
Just six months ago, the 19-year-old, like thousands of others in his war-torn homeland, was moving from camp to camp in a bid to flee militia brutality.
He came to Bolton with a group of refugees as part of the Government's Gateway Protection Project, a scheme which helps vulnerable people from across the world.
And since settling in the town, he has become a key player in a new football team, Strongbow FC, which is made up of other refugess who have started a new life in Bolton. In just a matter of months, the team are hoping to kick their way to a trophy. And on Saturday they took part in the Unity Cup Festival at Sheffield, in which 20 teams made up of asylum-seekers and refugees will compete for the trophy.
The event has been organised by football's anti-racism body Kick-It Out.
The team was invited to take part after winning the Fair Play Award at the recent Refugee World Cup.
FC Strongbow, a name inspired by the television cider adverts, is made up of 16 players aged between nine and 19. Every member has been granted sanctuary in the UK after escaping the civil war which has raged in Sudan for more than 20 years between rebels and Government-backed forces.
Before they arrived in the UK, members of the team spent years living in refugee camps, having been driven from their homes as a result of the conflict, which has seen rapes, murder and torture.
Charlie, captain of the team, said: "Living in the camps was very difficult, I was in a tent for 14 years. We used to play football to forget everything. Now we are in Bolton, we use football to bring us together."
Charlie lives in the Halliwell area and has been here for six months.
He said: "It's nice in Bolton, the people are very welcoming. We will bring back the cup for Bolton!"
The tournament at Sheffield United FC Academy was opened by Sports Minister Richard Caborn and Sheffield United starts Leigh Bromby and Paul Ifill.
John Jekery, aged 32, helps to organise the team and lives in Great Lever. He said: "Something like this is very important for the young people.
"I was in the camps for 10 years and it was very difficult. There were no facilities and the people went through a lot. Football helped them."
By Bolton Evening News Reporter
