Date: 05 May 2022
Eighteen clerical soccer players are heading to Dorking this May. The squad of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s FC (ABC FC) are holding a training camp ahead of their first post-Covid match against the Times FC (Newspaper).
Pouya Heidari Rector of St Mary’s Fetcham, is the team’s founder and captain.?
As a young man Pouya was a professional player in Iran with a growing reputation.?But after his conversion to Christianity, life became increasingly hazardous. He became a humanitarian aid worker in Tehran and was active in underground churches and the distribution of Bibles. ?
He arrived in the diocese in June 2021.
Working in local partnership with the Community Development Links Team from St Johns C of E Primary School, the ABC FC has been given the opportunity to play this match in the state of the art Dorking Wanderers Stadium, facilitated by Surrey Football Association. St John’s has also offered training space for the teams on their 3G training facility ahead of the crunch match.?
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s FC will play their first game against journalists and other staff from the Times Newspaper at the Dorking Wanderers stadium on May 28th. Kick off 11.00am. Everyone’s invited to go along.
“Community engagement through sport is a great way to be a force for good in all our communities,” says Pouya. “The football team is an extension of that and I hope that the games we have planned will raise awareness at a national level.”
The team’s last game was against the Church Times just before the March 2020 lockdown. The result was a two-one win for the newspaper.?
Photo credit: Ian Anderson