Celebrating 30 years of the International Network of Street Papers
|The Homeless World Cup returned to Cape Town where the idea was established in 2006.
“If there hadn’t been an International Network of Street Papers, there wouldn’t have been a Homeless World Cup,” said Homeless World Cup Co-Founder and President, Mel Young.
The Homeless World Cup and street papers are inextricably interlinked. The Homeless World Cup was established in 2001, with the first tournament being held in Graz, Austria two years later. All 18 teams which competed in that inaugural Homeless World Cup were formed by street papers.
What a lot of people also don’t know is that the concept for the Homeless World Cup was created during the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) conference in Cape Town in 2001.
Mel Young and fellow Co-Founder Harald Schmied were both at the INSP conference in South Africa as delegates – representing their respective street papers – Big Issue Scotland (Mel) and Megaphon (Harald).
One evening inspired by the day’s discussions, Mel and Harald started thinking about how they could directly involve people who were homeless. As two lifelong football fans who had seen how the beautiful game could be used for social change, the Homeless World Cup was born.
“By the end of the night we had invented the Homeless World Cup, where teams from all over the world could represent their country in a week-long street soccer tournament. It was a lively and animated conversation and we both imagined a colourful football competition which would change people’s lives,” said Mel.
|The idea behind the Homeless World Cup was born during the 2001 International Network of Street Papers Conference in Cape Town. The first tournament in Graz, Austria was held in 2003.
The INSP, which is based in Glasgow, currently represents nearly 100 global street paper enterprises including many of the Homeless World Cup’s existing street football partners Shedia (based in Greece), Big Issue Australia, and Hecho Club Social (Argentina) among others.
“We see INSP as our cousins who have been part of the Homeless World Cup since birth. It’s great to see the ongoing impact of street papers around the world making a difference for millions of people and promoting authentic journalism and storytelling,” Mel added.
At numerous Homeless World Cups since 2003, teams have been awarded the INSP Trophy for the fifth tier of the tournament and the organisation still has a presence at the annual tournament, recognising the role of street papers in the legacy of the tournament.
Harald Schmied – The Co-Founder of the Homeless World Cup, former Editor of Megaphon and founder of Homeless World Cup Austria sadly died in 2018. Homeless World Cup Austria – a part of international charity Caritas – still regularly bring a team to the Homeless World Cup.