When Soccer Looks For Meaning: Finding Faith And Christian Belonging At Wembley Stadium
The English Football Association’s “Faith and Football Christmas” event, held at Wembley Stadium in London, was, on the surface, a celebration: Christmas music, testimonies from players and reflections on shared values.
Beneath the festive tone lay a deeper, more complex story about identity, pressure, belonging and belief in the modern game.
The English game has always carried traces of faith. As FA diversity Chief Dal Darroch noted, historians argue that many clubs grew out of church communities, embedding moral frameworks long before the game became a global industry. What the Wembley event highlighted is not simply a revival of that heritage, but a response to the strains of contemporary soccer.
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A recurring theme throughout the Dec. 3 event, which drew 600 fans, was belief. Speakers repeatedly framed soccer and faith as parallel practices: Both require commitment through disappointment, resilience under scrutiny and trust in something not immediately visible.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ opening reflection could just as easily have been delivered in a dressing room as a cathedral.
“One of my childhood memories is of 1962, being at Anfield when Liverpool won promotion to the First Division,” said the Catholic prelate, who wore a 1977 Liverpool jersey to address the crowd. Now that's going back a bit, and it underscores that two qualities football can engender are loyalty and fidelity. We don't follow a team because it's successful. We follow a team because that's where we belong, where we have that sense of belonging. And that is one of the virtues that belongs to the football supporter and to the person of faith.”
This idea of belief matters in a sport increasingly defined by volatility. Careers can be short, and public judgment is a constant. Omar Beckles, a defender for EFL League One club Leyton Orient, said players are conditioned to see soccer not just as a job but as their entire identity.
He said soccer “is what we do, it’s not who we are” — adding that players need a sense of worth not tied to just to results or contracts.
Former Crystal Palace captain Joel Ward. (Wikipedia Commons photo)
Mental health also emerged as the evening’s most urgent concern, particularly for young players. The academy system, where 99 percent fail to secure pro contracts, produces ambition at scale but success for just a few.
Faith-based organizations, such as Christians in Sport and Bridge the Gap Football, positioned themselves not as talent factories, but as counter-cultural spaces where young people are valued beyond performance.
The most striking element of the gathering was knowing that faith remains a big part of some soccer players’ lives: Arsenal players praying together, Crystal Palace’s Bible study groups and the rise of social media accounts like BallersinGod reveal a generational shift. Younger players appear more willing to publicly integrate belief into their lives, often alongside teammates of other faiths.
Ultimately, the Wembley event functioned less as evangelism and more as diagnosis. It identified a sport wrestling with overload and presented faith — Christianity in particular — as one response to it all. The FA’s decision to host such gatherings sends a symbolic message: Soccer belongs to everyone, including people of faith, and belief still has a place within a game loved by millions.
Former Crystal Palace captain Joel Ward said players had gathered around the center circle at Wembley to pray following the club’s historic FA Cup win in May.
“My faith gives me an anchor,” he said.
Clemente Lisi serves as executive editor at Religion Unplugged.