The men who bring God to the squad

Corruption, players fighting one another, stars in and out of jail: football clubs are turning to religion to tackle the game's moral malaise, as Robert Verkaik reports

Alan Comfort was an England youth footballer who went on to play for Queen's Park Rangers. He first met God when he was transferred to Cambridge United. A tricky left winger, Comfort was brought in to replace the less talented Graham Daniels, a Christian footballer.

Daniels describes the new player's arrival, which ended his career, as the most painful experience he had ever had. "He came on trial for a month and I thought he was a midfield player. All I wanted to do was play, and I was pushed out."

Comfort takes up the story: "On the day when it dawned that Graham was being replaced, everyone in the dressing room was saying: if there really is a God, why isn't He helping Graham now? But there was something in Graham that I had never seen in anyone else, a kind of look in his eyes."

Despite the difficult situation, Daniels went out of his way to befriend the interloper. He even let him stay with his family while he was away from home for the trial. Comfort, who had never been to church before, says it was Daniels' kindness and Christian stoicism that triggered his conversion.

Comfort, 30, retired as a player five years ago. But he is now back in football ... as the Reverend Alan Comfort, chaplain to Leyton Orient, one of 52 football clubs in the Premier and Endsleigh leagues that now have their own vicar.

Ten years ago there were just two or three such chaplains. But the Heysel Stadium and Hillsborough tragedies in the Eighties left some players and fans looking outside football for answers to more important questions. Corruption, drugs and violence on and off the pitch have left the game's reputation damaged.

The Premier League is tackling football's problems partly by encouraging teams to appoint pastors. Last month, it sponsored a conference at Lilleshall, the FA's National Centre of Excellence in Shropshire, where 43 football chaplains heard a talk given by the League's chief executive, Rick Parry, who explained the problems facing the modern game and the ways football chaplains could help.

The Rev John Boyers, a Baptist minister, is the Manchester United club chaplain. Through Score, Sports Chaplaincy Offering Resources and Encouragement, he helped to organise the Lilleshall conference. "Clubs are seeing the value of the chaplaincy as a pastoral and spiritual safety net," says Rev. Boyers. "We've had many situations in football ranging from drugs scandals to financial scandals and behavioural scandals which show there is real worth in having a chaplaincy."

In football chaplaincy terms, being appointed vicar to the traditionally Catholic Manchester United is like winning the FA Cup. Rev Boyers was "promoted" to Old Trafford from Watford in 1992. "In terms of size, Watford is like a little church, whereas Man U is a cathedral," he says.

With the likes of sardine philosopher and kung fu kicker Eric Cantona among the flock, plus a constant shuffling of players, this particular ministry must be quite a challenge. Then there are young and talented players to look after, such as Ryan Giggs, who have had to adjust fast to the pressures of the game.

"Young players who have left home for the first time can feel isolated and overpowered," says Rev Boyers. And older players have their own obstacles to deal with: "You're all thrilled when a manager signs a great new player, but actually he's a threat to you."

Rev Boyers won't discuss individual cases in which he has been asked to help, so he's not saying whether he was brought in to offer Eric Cantona spiritual succour after his attack on a fan.

But Comfort has his own theory about the incident. "When you know the character, then you can see how it happened. Most of the problems top- class players have, other people can only dream of."

Jack Charlton, the popular manager of the Republic of Ireland's national squad, has been instrumental in helping to promote the image of club chaplains. As a player he pushed for one at Leeds and as a manager he initiated a chaplaincy at Sheffield Wednesday. When he took the Irish team to the World Cup last year, a chaplain had to be part of the team as well. Terry Venables has so far not followed suit.

In England, football chaplains probably outnumber Christian players. Chelsea's Gavin Peacock and Cyrille Regis, now playing for Chester, are two of the best known. Regis, 37, became a Christian five years ago after the death of his friend the England player Laurie Cunningham in a car crash. He believes all players benefit from talking to someone who understands the game but who has a different set of values. "The football authorities are recognising that there are players who don't even go to church who nevertheless need a pastoral service - who might appreciate a more godly point of view."

Gavin Peacock hosts a bible class at his house every six weeks to which between 12 and 15 Christian footballers come from clubs all over the country. But Peacock's manager, Glenn Hoddle, perhaps the most famous born-again football Christian, is not one of them. He now refers to himself as a spiritualist and all attempts to install a club chaplain at Chelsea have so far met with failure.

Chaplains ministering to this largely secular congregation have to overcome a particular irritation: being perceived as a lucky mascot or some sort of witch doctor casting spells on the opposition. This is a myth Rev Boyers is keen to debunk. "I would never suggest that my presence at a club has been solely responsible for any success."

Nevertheless, fans at Watford, who witnessed their club's miraculous rise from the Fourth to the First Division in five seasons, are in no doubt that God moves in mysterious ways.

Rev Boyers and Graham Taylor both joined the club at about the same time, in 1977, when Watford was contentedly languishing in the middle of the Fourth Division. By 1985, they were in the First Division, had played in Europe, and had reached the final of the FA Cup. Rev Boyers is extremely modest. "Graham Taylor must take most of the credit for that".

After Rev Boyers moved to Manchester United in 1992, however, the club won the Premiership in the next two seasons. Football fans will note that Graham Taylor's career has taken a very different course.

Some of the ministry of a football chaplain is, of course, more mundane than dealing with assaults, traumas and going with the team to Cup Finals. There are the club's births and marriages to attend to and the occasional scattering of a fan's ashes over the pitch. The rest of the time the chaplain will make himself available by attending training sessions or talking to injured players.

There are, however, occasionally desperate moments when even some of the hardest players will come looking for God.

The Rev Boyers remembers the Watford skipper coming to him just before a very important game. "He took me into a quiet little room and we held the door handle tight, because they don't want to be seen praying with the vicar. He said, 'You believe in God, just pray for me'."

There are managers who still want something more palpable from their chaplain. Dave Bassett, manager of lowly placed First Division side Sheffield United, would appear to be in need of divine intervention to get his team back into the Premiership. But he doesn't expect the club chaplain to do it on his own.

"It's all very abstract. You can't say the chaplain has done this or done that for us in terms of helping the football." And, although in his heyday at Wimbledon he didn't have a chaplain to call upon, Bassett now says, with the board's agreement, he will always seek to appoint one.

"The chaplain helps more with the personal problems. A player who has a personal problem might prefer to discuss it with the vicar rather than the manager." Most managers accept that a player with a clean conscience will play better football.

There is an anecdote about how, in 1993, Sheffield United met neighbours Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-final of the FA Cup. They both took chaplains to the match. On the day Sheffield Wednesday's chaplain, the Rev David Jeans, was persuaded to say a prayer on the local radio. Wednesday went on to win.

But Rev Jeans laughs off the incident. "It's not about praying for results. God is interested in all parts of life. The artistry of someone like Chris Waddle is part of God's creation."