Up Against the Wall: Football as a Therapy
By John Wheelhouse, January 2010

Football As Therapy: A Project in conjunction with Positive Youth '98

By his own admission Mike Ferguson hasn't had it easy. Through no fault of his own, he's lived on the edge in hostels, dabbled with drugs and witnessed first hand how the underbelly of our society operates. But he refused to lie down and be a victim. Thanks to Football As Therapy (hereby known as FAsT), he hasn’t become one and now he's helping others.

Mike explains, "I'm from East Leeds but the programme is based in Wetherby. I think the best way to deal with issues is to get out of your own usual environment, thus removing any distractions you may have. They used to come and pick me up, provide a meal, give me F.A qualified level football coaching and be there for counselling and concentrating on the positives with me. I've always loved football and Mark Baker who leads the project, saw the potential not only in me but in others too. Because of what FAsT has done for me i wanted to put something back in, so others could benefit too. So i created a football team to fly the banner for them and try to hopefully establish a respect and following for what people do behind the scenes. Hopefully even landing a regular source of funding to keep this wonderful programme going and help people."

Now aged 25, in full time employment and a father, Mike is putting something back. If you go down to Fearnville Leisure Centre on a Sunday morning, you'll see him putting a bunch of lads through their paces. Most of the lads are local, some from further afield, some have been in trouble with the law, some have had problems like Mike had, some are immigrants, some are at college,some have full time jobs, it's a mix and match and none of them were born with a silver spoon in their mouths but Mike focuses on the positives and a damn good job he’s making of it too. "We started to train on a Sunday morning to get us into the habit of getting up and out of bed to play in next seasons Leeds Sunday League.

When we join the league we'll switch training over to a Tuesday evening to mmmkeep our fitness up. We're getting a regular mmmbunch showing up every week and step by step we're looking more like a team, so much so that we're also joining a new 5-a-side league with Football Revolution which is on Fleet Lane in Woodlesford at the end of January to further promote our cause. Not all the lads have a bad story to tell but they all have a good effect on each other and the less than fortunate ones. There's no divide here, it's about respecting each other regardless of background, colour, religion etc."

And it seem's to be working, the big Lithuanian lad travels from Huddersfield to train and he's as much a part of the banter as everyone else. The cameraderie is noticeable, drinks are passed from one to another and arms are outstretched to offer helping hands to those who have found Mike's training a little too much.

"We've been looking around for local sponsorship. Marie and Shaun from the Dog & Gun on York Road have really helped us out, they're paying for our pitch for the season and have also landed us a home kit through their brewery connections. We are based at the Dog & Gun so it will be the home of all our operations. It's become a bit of a community centre and it's very family orientated. There's dance classes and a boxing club there too. However we do still need sponsorship for an away kit, balls, nets and other training equipment to get us ready in time for the season. It's a worthy cause, any sponsor would be doing the lads a huge favour, hopefully getting a bit of publicity for their business via our attendance in the league & cups but also via our website but most importantly of all, helping FAsT get recognition and funding to continue."

I gathered that was important to Mike, raising awareness for FAsT, as it's a little known charity without much funding but all the same very worthy. It seems to deliver as well, Mike and his team are living testimony to that. My only concern is what happened to another bloke called Ferguson who ended up going into football management...