Embracing the true spirit of football

AT a fund raiser in aid of a domestic abuse charity, in between performances from Alison Moyet, Tracy Thorn and Caitlin Moran, it was interesting to hear the experiences of a transgender woman who had used the services of the charity while fleeing not just the horrors of violence in the home, but violence against her from wider society – from catcalls to punches to ridicule, her transition had not been smooth.

Meanwhile, on the radio, there was an interview with Jaiyah Saelua, from the world’s least successful football team, American Samoa. This is the team who suffered the worst FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat in history – 31-0 defeat at the hands of Australia in 2001.

Yet despite this unsurpassed inability to win anything, the American Samoa team love football so much that they just keep playing – and are the subject of a film, Next Goal Wins, released on May 7. The film makers travelled to the tiny island – population 55,000 – because they wanted to make a film about the true spirit of football. Not a Jose Mourinho in sight.