Nicola Ford is a long-time football fan, so when Basingstoke Town FC was looking for a new chaplain, she was the obvious choice! Nicola is a curate at Basingstoke Church, which has five locations around the town, and was appointed to the football club at the beginning of the season.
There are hundreds of sports chaplains in the UK, providing pastoral and spiritual care for professional and amateur teams.
Nicola said, “The role of a chaplain is to be a presence, to support the team, to support the coaching staff, but also to get to know the football community and the supporters who are here throughout the week. It’s not just for the first team either, there’s an academy, with young people coming through, and there’s a women’s team, and junior teams as well. My role is to be a presence among those people and a pastoral support, to cheer on the team and I’m here if anyone wants to chat about Jesus or if anyone wants prayer.
“We’re just open to being there and being ready. If you’ve got questions, if you want prayer, if you want to chat about whether God is here. In football, there are a lot of ups and downs, and in life there are a lot of ups and downs. There’s a strength in being a voice of something that’s constant in that, and I hope that’s something I can offer.”
She continued, “Basingstoke Church covers a lot of Basingstoke, so I want to be here and represent the church as well. When I first met the team I said ‘I’m here as the chaplain, but there’s a whole team of clergy and a whole church of people, so if you ever want to speak to anyone, if you want to come on Alpha or if you want to try out church, then I want to make those links really strong as well.’”
Nicola has been welcomed by the club, the staff, team and supporters. This is how Manager Daniel Brownlie described having a club chaplain: “It’s almost like a comfort blanket. It’s the ability to know that you’ve got someone there who you can lean on and who you can talk to. Whilst I understand Nicola is a big football fan, that’s not the reason she’s here. She’s here because she wants to support us and wants to support the team and just knowing that they have that level of support from a completely unbiased non-football centric area is lovely. We’re proud to have her and we’re proud of the tradition that comes with the chaplaincy here at Basingstoke.”
The links between the football club and church go back many years. Basingstoke FC has had a club chaplain for several decades. St Michael, one of the churches in the town, is also the club’s emblem and they share that tradition of hope, community and togetherness.
Nicola added, “One of the reasons football kicked off in the 1800s was because churches wanted to get lads off the street and that’s how it was established in so many different places. And we want young people to thrive so, I just think, let’s come and be a light in this place. Here on a Saturday and on match days, there’s a community spirit and this is church for lots of people. They come and they gather, and they cheer and they say, ‘see you next Saturday’. It feels like how Sunday is to the church. I just think it’s a great opportunity and if we can forge those links and keep those links strong, God will work.
“There’s a natural crossover anyway, a lot of people love football and love God. So, if you’ve got lots of people who are at a football game on a Saturday, we can say see you tomorrow at church or come along to something midweek. God seems to be opening the door, so we say ‘yes’. So many people are here at every game, and they’ll go to the away games as well. There’s a commitment to the local club. So, if that’s where people are spending their time then we’ll come and hang out with them too.”
In March children from Basingstoke Church will come and be mascots at a match and walk on with the players during a match day.
Nicola added, “What we experience often as a church is that young boys and girls get involved in sport and feel like they’ve got to choose between church and sport. In the Premier League, in particular, there are loads of footballers who are sold out for God and so we want that to feed down and say it’s okay to do both. You can love playing football at the weekend and you can be committed to Jesus. You don’t have to pick one or the other. God can use you in whatever role it is.”
Nicola has already gained the support of the fans. Mick Fullan is a season ticket holder at Basingstoke FC and attends Basingstoke Church. He said, “I think the football club was keen to get Nicola as a chaplain on board because the players go to the manager for all sorts of reasons and sometimes when you’re managing people, they just need a little bit more faith and help. It’s all about people and as a Christian we care about people and if we can bring anyone closer to God that would be good.”
Manager Daniel agreed, “You sign up to management thinking it’s about Saturday and winning three points and don’t get me wrong that’s the forefront of everything that I do, but to get there constructively you’ve got to manage people. You’re a counsellor, you’re a friend, you’re a person that is there to listen. It’s all the elements that you probably should be trained in but are not trained in and you have to just go with it. Whether the lads are atheists or of a different faith, the fact that they can talk to Nicola is lovely.
“I understand the church’s value of the support, the community, the kindness and approach. It’s an unbiased view with a very forgiving ear and sometimes you need that, and footballers aren’t exempt from that. For example, in the last year we’ve had parent bereavements, we’ve had miscarriages, we’ve had divorces, we’ve had break-ups, and again to be able to lean on Nicola, to just lend an ear, will be brilliant and a great thing to have.”
