FORMER Northern Ireland striker Gerry Armstrong was announced as new ambassador for homeless charity Street Soccer NI.
The 1982 World Cup hero attended a Street Soccer event last Saturday to hand out International Caps to previous Homeless World Cup players who represented their country in the last three Homeless World Cups.
Street Soccer NI, in partnership with East Belfast Mission, the Housing Executive, Simon Community and IFA, run projects across NI using the power of football to transform the lives of people who are homeless and other disadvantaged groups. Alongside the football they offer support in housing, employability, and other issues that affect their players.
Gerry Armstrong said:
“I am so pleased to be announced as an ambassador for Street Soccer NI,” said former Spurs star Armstrong.
“What a great cause to be involved with and a wonderful opportunity to help people representing our country achieve their goals to compete in a World Cup competition, this can give them the confidence, belief and a chance to get jobs, and homes, and to improve their situation in life”.
Street Soccer is now in preparation for this year’s Homeless World Cup in Norway in August. They will be bringing a men and women’s team to the weeklong event in Oslo that has a major impact on the players’ lives. This will be Northern Ireland’s first women’s team to compete in the Homeless World Cup.
Michael Boyd, Chairman of Street Soccer NI and IFA Director of Football Development, said: “It’s fantastic to have someone with Gerry’s experience shining the spotlight on a charity that does such good work with marginalised groups.
“We hope this will help raise the profile of our work in the community tackling homelessness through football.”
