With the final of the football World Cup in July, from mid-June, we’ve seen the best football talent in the world come together and provide a great spectacle.
Many high-profile footballers are vocal about their Christian faith, integrating their beliefs into their professional lives and public persona. Premier League players such as Bukayo Saka, Antoine Semenyo, Eberechi Eze, and Marc Guéhi, frequently share their faith through social media and community work. When any of them score, we often see on-field gestures like them falling to their knees and lifting their hands in praise to God or revealing a white T-shirt under their team strip with words ‘I belong to Jesus.’
Following Man City’s FA Cup final win, Semenyo was seen on TV falling to his knees to pray and give God the glory at the final whistle. Saka was pictured dropping to his knees, pointing to the sky in prayer during his celebration, following Arsenal’s win to go through to the Champions League final. Both players scored the winning goals.
A group of Arsenal players, affectionately known by fans as the ‘Bible Brothers’, have celebrated their recent Premier League title win while openly dedicating the moment to God. Many of the players have previously spoken publicly about their faith and have not shied away from sharing how their relationship with God influences both their personal lives and football careers. It’s great to see what God is doing in football, with the public witness of so many players. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has also acknowledged the role faith plays within his squad, suggesting it positively contributes to players’ wellbeing and strengthens relationships within the team.
For four months at the beginning of last season, Yeovil Town FC had a player called Junior Morias, who played 18 games for the club and scored 4 goals. After each goal he scored, at his post-match interview he would always give God the glory.
Following meeting up with a friend in 1978, who spoke about their Christian faith in a way I had never heard before, it wasn’t long afterwards that I remember becoming a Christian myself. As an adult, asking Jesus to forgive me for my sins, for the very first time, radically changed my life.
Being in the military, if my Christian faith was to mean anything and something I wanted to share with my work colleagues, I would truly have to nail my colours to the mast. This was something I did and over my twenty-two years of service, I had many conversations, and some also wanted to know more about God’s unconditional love for themselves.
