“I joined this team because I wanted to make friends, I wanted to be confident”

If Belinda Madigela wanted the full throttle Elland Road experience, she couldn’t have picked a better first game to watch Leeds United. Scum at home in the Premier League, in front of a full stadium of fans, for the first time in nineteen years; biblical rain threatening to swamp the entire city; and two goals within a 24-second period I’m still not sure I’ve stopped shaking from.

Except for Belinda, it was a slightly awkward moment. Taking her seat alongside her coach for Holbeck Moor FC, Claire ‘Blue’ Graham, and her captain, Abbi McLaren, Belinda was asked by Blue what team she supports. “Manchester United,” came the reply, quickly followed by advice from Blue that Belinda might be better off not mentioning that to anyone.

Chatting on Holbeck Moor itself before a training session, Belinda looks shocked when I mention the story. “Who told you that?!” Thankfully, she has seen the light.

“The atmosphere was beautiful,” she says. “It was great. I can’t even describe it. I was with the Leeds fans and was wearing a Leeds scarf. I enjoyed myself. I’m in Leeds, I support Leeds.”

Belinda moved to Leeds from Botswana in December 2019. Before she had much of a chance to explore her new home and understand more of the language — particularly the Yorkshire accent — the country was in lockdown, and Belinda was stuck inside, unable to go anywhere or meet anyone, for the best part of two years.

Whenever she used the foodbank provided by Slung Low, her food parcel came with the South Leeds Life newspaper. As lockdowns eased, she noticed a page advertising a new football team starting on Holbeck Moor. Joining a new club can be an intimidating enough experience even without the challenges of it being in a new country, where you don’t know anyone, and are still learning the language — yet despite never playing football before, Belinda was brave enough to attend the first training session.

“Oh god, I was scared,” she says. “The first time I came here it was so scary. I was on my way and in my mind I was like, ‘Can I go back home?’ When I got here I found two of my countrymen. It was very comforting. The Leeds accent is so difficult, I didn’t know how I was going to manage.”

Any fears were soon eased by her coach, Blue, and the supportive atmosphere fostered by her teammates. Fellow players helped Belinda apply for a role volunteering at the charity shop Holbeck Together, allowing her to make more friends and continue practising speaking the language. Belinda remains modest about her grasp of English, but it is excellent. She is funny and articulate, joking with her teammate Eve Murphy about being “VIPs” for the evening because they’re being interviewed.

“Becky wrote me a reference, together with Blue, and that’s how I started working in Holbeck Together,” she says. “I am enjoying it. The reason why I started was because I wanted to know the language and the accent better. Even now I’m still struggling, but I’m getting there. [When I first joined the team] I could speak English, but not like now. I could speak it, but I was not confident. I was not speaking it every day because I was at home for a year.”

Holbeck Moor FC was formed to provide access to the physical, mental, and social benefits of football to people in a local area that until then had no adult sports club. Joining the team has allowed Belinda to discover the joy of playing football, and in particular the rush of finding the back of the net — even if she’s yet to settle on a signature celebration.

“It’s great!” she says. “I’m quite a physical person, so it’s good. I really enjoy it. I play as a forward, scoring goals.

“I joined this team because I wanted to make friends. I wanted to be confident. I had an anxiety to be around a lot of people, but when I joined the team it was much better. I feel more confident now. I’m not yet there, but I’m getting there.”

Anybody interested in joining Holbeck Moor FC can email [email protected] or call 07305 155698. We can also heartily recommend pre-game drinks, and post-game drinks, at The Holbeck, the oldest social club in Britain.

More info:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07305 155698
Website: https://www.slunglow.org/hmfc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SlungLow ⬢