Spirit of Merseyside League

Yearly Men's 5-a-Side League

Now in its 20th season, the Spirit of Merseyside League is proudly organised by Liverpool Homeless Football Club (LHFC). The league provides a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for people from services connected to homelessness, rehabilitation, and mental health across Merseyside and beyond.

Running annually from March to October, the league takes place on the last Tuesday of every month, bringing together teams from community organisations and support services across the region.

Each monthly tournament offers a chance to connect, compete, and have fun in a positive, welcoming atmosphere. Entry is completely free, and food and drinks are provided for all players and staff on the day.

The Spirit of Merseyside League features three divisions – Premier, Championship, and Division One – giving teams of all abilities the opportunity to enjoy structured, friendly competition. The season concludes with an awards ceremony, celebrating teamwork, respect, and fair play the core values of LHFC.

2026 Season

Match Day 1 - Racism Awareness - March

The first match day of the 2026 season was focused on racism, and brought a roster of teams new and old together to take a stand against discrimination.

Special guests included long time supporters Jamie Carragher, John Barnes, and Chris Foy, who each spoke to attendees before kick off, before wishing the players good luck for the new season.

Attendance was great, with a full house of 20 teams taking part, each from a different service provider or organisation.

There were new teams from organisations such as Crisis and Everton in the Community, as well as returning teams like CGL and Victory Outreach.

Match Day 2 - Gun & Knife Crime Awareness - April

Our second match day saw our teams reuniting for a second round of games, this time to raise awareness around gun and knife crime in and around our city.

Knife crime in Merseyside is up a massive 64% since 2014, despite an 8% drop in 2025. During one national week of action to tackle knives in our community, Merseyside police removed 230 knives from circulation, and made 40 arrests.

This topic is one that is close to the hearts of many of our members. During last year's Spirit of Merseyside League season, 79% of participants asked said they knew someone who had been directly impacted by knife crime.

Match Day 3 - Suicide Awareness - May

The theme of May's match day was suicide awareness. We aimed to help reduce the stigma around talking about men's mental health, and educate our attendees on the help that is available.

We were joined by Chris Kirkland, former Liverpool FC goalkeeper and current ambassador for our supporters at the LFC Foundation. He was kind enough to talk about his own experiences with mental health and suicidal thoughts.

As always, the event had a great sense of community, as our teams came together to share another day of food, fun, and football.

Match Day 4 - Prostate Cancer Awareness - June

June's match day was focused on prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with over 64,000 diagoses each year. More than 12,000 people die of the disease every year, and 1 in 8 men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime - doubling to 1 in 4 black men.

Andy, one of our regular volunteers from Liverpool Combined Authority, spoke to our attendees about his own personal experience surviving prostate cancer. Resources about signs, symptoms, and how to get checked were available for all of our players.

It was another well attended event on one of the hottest days of the year. It's hard to believe we are now already halfway through the 20th Spirit of Merseyside League season!

Get Involved

If you’re a service or organisation supporting people affected by homelessness, rehabilitation, or mental health, and you’d like to enter a team into the monthly tournaments, we’d love to hear from you!

Contact us: info@liverpoolhomelessfootballclub.com