Stones joined by fellow England hero in surprise for 300 homeless footballers
Two England heroes surprised a crowd of 300 homeless football players taking part in a charity tournament on Thursday.
Manchester City defender John Stones was mobbed by starstruck fans who invited him for a five-a-side kick about on the astroturf. The injured centre-back bowed out joking "I wouldn't be much use" due to a groin injury - but posed for selfies and signed shirts with the excited crowd.
The players had been taking part in the Salvation Army's Partnership Trophy at GOALS Manchester in the shadows of the Etihad Stadium. The tournament works with Pep Guardiola's Spanish charity, the Guardiola Sala Foundation to bring vulnerable people from across the country together for a day of the beautiful game.
Legendary goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, 74, who is the most capped England player in history, also turned up to cheer the teams on from the sidelines. Gary Bourton, 51, from Reading, told the Mirror: "He was my childhood hero, I watched him for the first time when he was playing for Saints (Southampton FC) and I was just a boy. I've followed his career since, he's a legend but I never could have dreamed I would meet him and get him to sign my shirt."
Like Gary, Anton Barnes, 38, fell homeless following battles with drug addiction and has been living in a Salvation Army Lifehouse for several months. With their help, Anton has got clean and is getting his life in Sheffield back on track.
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He said: "It's incredible that these men have come down here to meet us, they're millionaires and they've taken the time to come and chat to us, it means everything." After offering the men some shot-saving tips, Peter also opened up on his own struggles in an emotional speech about his gambling addiction.
His voice wavered as he told the crowds: "My reason for coming out publicly was because I'd heard one person was committing suicide every day because they felt they couldn't stop gambling. All I want to say is you can stop, it's not easy, but there is help out there. Sometimes I was on the computer until 3am and it was ruining my life. But the day I stopped was the best day of my life."
Peter told how he lost millions during his 45-year addiction, which he kept a closely guarded secret until meeting his now wife, Steph, in 2016. In previous years, the Partnership Trophy players have been surprised by the likes of Erik ten Hag, Terry Butcher and Pep Guardiola himself.
Players had been taking part in the Salvation Army's Partnership Trophy at GOALS Manchester (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Meanwhile, an unlikely pairing have thanked the Salvation Army for starting their lifelong friendship - despite hitting "rock bottom" in the process.
Jack Smithson, 25, and Steven Rogers, 41, both fell homeless and housed in the charity's Swan Lodge life house in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. After his relationship broke down, Jack was left sofa surfing at various friends' houses and had "nowhere else to go" in July last year.
He said: "I was so scared on the first night. I was also guilty of having the misconceived view that the people living there would be troublemakers but so many of them were just like me, they'd just run out of places to turn to. I never would have approached Steven or even thought we would have anything in common, but we had a kick around and just got chatting."
After the death of both his parents, Steven was evicted and was struggling with undiagnosed learning difficulties. He's been living at Swan Lodge for the last four years and is receiving support from the tutors to gain qualifications in Maths and English.
Jack has since left the life house and secured a job as a football steward in Dagenham with the help of the charity. But he makes the 600-mile round trip all the way back to Sunderland to see Steven and go to Sunderland FC matches together.
Jack said: "We'll always be mates, he helped me through the lowest point of my entire life and I'll always be grateful to the Salvation Army for that."
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