Faith in the beautiful game

Many of England’s biggest football clubs – today some of the country’s largest entertainment businesses – were originally started by local churches 150 years ago. Fascinatingly, the connections between Christianity and football are not solely a historical quirk either. There are Christians playing the game at every level, managing teams and running clubs, while churches use the sport for both outreach and pastoral care. So much so that even the thoroughly secular Football Association held a jamboree at Wembley Stadium last year to celebrate the interplay between the beautiful game and Christianity. This week’s episode digs deeper into the links between the church and our national pastime, exploring everything from muscular Christianity to faith literacy to evangelism inside the dressing room. Guests this week: • Michael Wakelin, Norwich City fan and former BBC religion producer who organised the FA’s Wembley event • Graham Daniels, former player and manager, now director at Cambridge United and head of Christians in Sport