H i! I’m Andy. I’ve been in parish ministry for 37 years working in places like Essex, Bucks, Portsmouth, Poole and Barnet, north London. I have always had a passion for faith and sport. I still play cricket at over-60s level! Throughout my time in ministry, I have also been involved with organisations like ‘Christians in Sport’. When I moved to Portsmouth, I had the opportunity to work (alongside the parish) as Club Chaplain at Portsmouth FC. It was an exciting period both on and off the pitch.

My role as Chaplain was to be a ‘pastoral and spiritual safety net’. It was a real privilege working with players, coaches and staff at the training ground and Fratton Park, plus supporters. I would visit training once a week and be available at home games. I would also meet outside of those times for a coffee, chat, Bible study, Alpha courses etc. We saw players come to real faith in Jesus over that time which was incredibly exciting. On the pitch my time coincided with Harry Redknapp becoming manager with his loyal lieutenant, Jim Smith! We were promoted from the Championship to the Premier League for the first time for 18 years. It was an amazing time to be at the club… lots of great stories of God’s grace!

I moved in 2005 to Poole, Dorset and then linked up again with some of the Pompey players who had come down to AFC Bournemouth. Through those contacts Bournemouth invited me in 2007 to become their Chaplain, which I did for the next 10 years until I moved to my current church in Barnet. Again, it was a very fruitful time with a number of players becoming Christ followers. The team had an amazing experience moving from administration and a 17-point deduction at the beginning of the 2008 season through to promotion to the Premier League under Eddie Howe’s management in 2015. It was an incredible achievement given the ground only holds a 12,000 capacity crowd.

CHAPLAINCY AND PREACHING

Football chaplaincy and the ministry of preaching relate in interesting ways. On the one hand, the opportunities to do straightforward preaching, like you would do in a parish setting, are relatively limited. Having said that, there were specific moments when I had to communicate in a certain way. Within three months of becoming the Chaplain at Portsmouth our goalkeeper, Aaron Flahavan, died tragically in a car crash. After this, I spoke in front of 17,000 grieving fans at Fratton Park. In that moment I had to learn how to preach in a short and succinct way. I'm can’t remember what I said that day, but I had to preach something that was relevant.

I've learnt that you've got to bring one point. Many managers would say that when it comes to most of the players in their team, they must only give them one thing to do. I have found it helpful to think about that when preaching. It has helped me to ask whether there is one core point that the Holy Spirit is showing me that I should be bringing through. Whether it is one point or the key point from the Bible, I am seeking the primary driver of the talk that most people can take something from.

There are some other aspects of the role of the chaplain where you exercise preaching skills. I used to do Chaplain's Chat programme notes once a month when I was at Portsmouth. In terms of communicating faith in other ways, I used to run a pre-match prayer time with a manager and four or five players at Bournemouth, and that meant that I had to do a five-minute session, which had to include a short story, the Bible passage, and then praying together. I did that before every home game. Again, learning how to communicate in a clear, short way; I think it has been a real privilege to do that. More recently I've been involved in sending a pre-match devotional to five or six people – some of whom are Christians, some of whom aren't yet – and giving them a little bit of a one point that I worked through, backed up by one verse from Scripture and then encouraging them to trust God.

EXAMPLE

Leicester City v Newcastle United FC – Monday 7th April 2025

Staying Humble

“When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

Well, we’re getting to the legendary ‘squeaky-bum’ moment of the season… and it’s looking very tight! After all the recent success I’m sure you’re making sure you don’t get carried away… I always think that when things have gone well it’s often hard to keep perspective.

I visited my sister in Los Angeles last week. When I was there, we were remembering my last visit when we went to watch UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Sadly, we didn’t have the chance to visit the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame that has lots of memorabilia of Coach Wooden’s. Maybe another time!

Coach Wooden once said, ‘Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.’ Coach Wooden was sharing some wise advice and, at the same time, a warning. God, I believe, made each of us in His image, and all are unique. He creates athletes with skill sets and talents. When an athlete begins to rise to the top, fame follows. When fame follows, conceit and pride tend to trail behind. Like a burglar sneaking into a home, pride can invade an athlete’s heart without them noticing. When this happens, Coach Wooden’s quote becomes a reality.

As athletes and coaches, we need to always guard our hearts against pride and conceit. There are big moments for athletes: winning games, becoming a starter or team captain, signing to the right team, playing at the top level. If we are not careful and on alert to pride, even the slightest accomplishment can steal away our humility and replace it with arrogance.

So...

When we begin to think that our skill, talent, accomplishments, athletic career and fame come from our doing, we fall to arrogance and pride. We must remain humble and maintain this wisdom: God has given it all.

When a personal accomplishment is reached, stay humble. When you win a major game, thank God.

When a trophy is won, fight against pride.

When the news posts a flattering article, acknowledge it’s God maybe.

Even if the stadium chants your name, remember the name that gave us our name: God.

Be careful and stay on alert for arrogance, conceit, and pride (even tonight!). Protect your humility and heart. Everything is given by God and for God. Have fun tonight… pray!

LEARNING FROM FOOTBALL FOR MINISTRY

Being a football chaplain certainly informed my own parish preaching. As well as helping me to communicate more clearly in a punchy way, having an opportunity to be immersed in a different cultural setting has taught me how to articulate the gospel in a challenging and competitive environment – especially to men. As a football chaplain I enjoyed being able to speak about faith in outreach activities at the club, including the annual AFC Bournemouth Carol Service that used to get up to 3,000 attendees and other events some involving players and guests – including one with Linvoy Primus, Cyrille Regis, Junior Stanislas and Benik Afobe.

I have been challenged by the passion I have seen in some of the people at the football clubs. When I’ve been watching games, I find myself sometimes standing back and thinking, ‘wow, this is fascinating insight into worship’. Obviously the passion, particularly seeing blokes, men who may not express much emotion in their daytime jobs, venting their spleen on a terrace is quite a fascinating thing. I do wonder whether sometimes in our preaching, maybe particularly in the denomination I'm part of, we do lack passion in our communication. It is not that we are not passionate about things, but rather that we don't communicate in a passionate way. I've been really learning a lot recently from my new Zimbabwean colleague in this area.

Finally, there are other ways that being part of a football club has had an impact on how I go about the task of preaching. For instance, when observing the management and coaching side of the game, I see a lot that correlated with leading a group of people in a church. I think there's so much to learn from the coaching setup.

Working under Eddie Howe’s time managing at Bournemouth, I was able to see how Eddie’s approach was formed by leadership principles developed by US football coach John Wooden. Some of those principles have caught on within my own ministry and have informed it. For instance, when exploring vision at a recent church council meeting, I was able utilise what I had seen from coaches and managers about the need for messaging to be communicated simply, clearly, and with clear outcomes outlined.

Being in sports chaplaincy has certainly deepened my approach to preaching. Like the football managers who must do much more than communicating points, preaching includes creating a culture which is underpinned by relationship and people management skills. To creature an honest and open culture in a club or a church involves those who lead being prepared to show some vulnerability and to demonstrate authenticity over time in how they communicate. This is something that matters to me as a preacher.