Former England goalie Peter Shilton speaks to homeless people from Milton Keynes about his past addiction battles

England goalkeeper Peter Shilton OBE cheered on Milton Keynes players at The Salvation Army’s annual five-a-side football tournament for people who are homeless.

He also spoke to the players and shared with them tales of his battles with addiction.

Shilton was a gambling addict for more than four decades and his problems reaching breaking point after his record breaking football career ended.

He said: "My message is with the right help you can beat addiction, but you need to ask for help. Playing as much sport as you can and positive thinking is also key, I think you could see that with the players today.”

Players in the tournament, held at Goals in Manchester, were also cheered on by former England defender and Manchester City star John Stones.

The local Salvation Army homeless service formed a team called Fishermead Lifehouse, made up of former homeless people who have been helped by the charity.

They were competing for the Partnership Trophy, which is run by The Salvation Army and its subsidiary, housing association SAHA to celebrate the achievements of players on and off the pitch and how far they have come as they move on from homelessness.

Fishermead Lifehouse was one of 28 teams from Salvation Army homelessness services across the UK - with players from Lifehouses, outreach programmes and Salvation Army Housing Association (SAHA) services.

Peter Shilton, who enjoyed a 30-year career as a footballer and is the England team’s most capped player, spent time cheering on the teams and gave a moving speech about his own history tackling a gambling addiction.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed taking part in The Partnership Trophy, it’s a great event and the people were very friendly and responsive, it’s competitive with the right sort of spirit.

“Thank you to The Salvation Army, it is one of those organisations that has been there forever and we need them.”

Antje Schroeder-Pinson, Manager of Fishermead Lifehouse (at The Salvation Army), said: “We loved seeing our residents play some fantastic football and most importantly enjoy themselves. It’s always a fantastic event that brings everybody together.

“The Partnership Trophy is a great opportunity to celebrate everyone within our homelessness services, as they continue to overcome the challenges and complex reasons that led to them becoming homeless.

“We want to say a big thank you to John Stones and Peter Shilton, as well as the Guardiola Sala Foundation, who have supported us at this year’s event and GOALS for making it all a reality. It means a lot to our service users to see their sporting heroes give up their time to come and cheer them on and inspire them. It makes such a difference.”

The Partnership Trophy is one of the many ways The Salvation Army promotes positive and independent living for its service users and reinforces the message that helping people to move on from homelessness is more than just providing a roof over someone’s head.