From One Football to 100 Players: Hull's Groundbreaking Asylum Seeker Team
By Joel,16, Jill Dando News Correspondent
Football has the power to bring people together from across the globe, and nowhere is this more evident than at Acorn FC.
The first ever football team led by and for people seeking asylum to achieve affiliation with the East Riding County FA, Acorn FC has been made possible by the Active Through Football consortium in Hull, and the dedication of two incredible people: Maureen and Anei.
Active Through Football is a Sport England programme funded by the National Lottery and delivered by the Football Foundation.
The programme connects key local partners from sport and community organisations to unlock the power of football and physical activity for people who might not otherwise have the chance to play, through a 'Place-based approach.'
‘What do you need?’
When Maureen Mulligan asked this to Anei Akon, a young man regularly attending and volunteering at Welcome House, a charity supporting refugees and people seeking asylum in Hull, she expected him to ask for clothes. But what he really needed, was a football.
It was here that Acorn FC was born. Akon, Anei’s family name, means acorn, and as Anei says ‘from small acorns large oak trees grow’.
Their love for football was strong, but the young men of Acorn FC needed a pitch and boots to play in. Enter Tigers Trust, whose free football sessions organised through Active Through Football, the team began to attend.
Anei and Maureen then met with the Trust’s Kayleigh Jackson, who organised a donation of 20 pairs of trainers.
Kayleigh introduced Maureen and the team to Chris Johnson of East Riding County FA, who was the catalyst for the team becoming officially registered and affiliated in the East Riding County FA region.
As all players are refugees or seeking asylum, many don’t have permanent residency status in the UK. This normally means that they aren't able to register with their local FA, but this didn’t stop Chris.
The small acorn was starting to grow roots.
Acorn FC played their first official match in November 2023, on Active Through Football partner Hull University’s Football Foundation funded 3G pitch, with Anei leading them to a 10-2 victory.
With 12 nationalities making up the squad, the spirit of togetherness that drives the Active Through Football partners in Hull was evident.
Some players have described Acorn FC as like a new family that they found through football, and this wouldn’t have been possible without this united team effort.
“We feel now we’re part of a bigger football family through Active Through Football”
The branches of the Acorn FC oak tree continue to grow, with over a hundred players and two established teams training multiple nights a week. Tony Baker from Hull Culture and Leisure Ltd has helped organise regular fixtures for the team, ensuring everyone is getting game time.
Anei has ‘changed the lives of so many young people’.
Thanks to his contagious enthusiasm and Active Through Football’s 5-year funding commitment, there will be access to a family of footballers for the local community of refugees and people seeking asylum in Hull for years to come, creating long-term, sustainable change.
The collaboration between Welcome House in Hull and the Active Through Football consortium partners Tigers Trust, East Riding County FA, Hull University and Hull Culture and Leisure, who lead on the project at Kingston upon Hull City Council, has created an opportunity that never existed before for these young men to become active through football and part of the Acorn FC family tree
