When Borussia Dortmund star Felix Nmecha transferred an imaginary crown from his head onto the pitch last weekend, he probably wasn’t expecting to spark a firestorm.
Arriving at the German national team camp two days later, he was summoned for a grilling by sporting director Rudi Voller and manager Jurgen Klopp. His symbol of surrender before God, a goal celebration called ‘The King’s Return’, had blown up into an international news story.
Voller, alongside many of Dortmund’s fans, was concerned by Nmecha’s ties to Ballers in God, a network of Christian players founded in 2015 by former Tottenham midfielder John Bostock.
While its core mission is to promote faith in Jesus, the evangelical group is believed to hold a conservative stance on issues such as sexuality and gender – a perspective Nmecha has been in hot water for promoting before.
Nmecha insisted that his message was one of love, but as his celebration was dissected worldwide, the furore posed more questions than it answered. What role does the Christian faith play for footballers? What impact is the groundswell of belief having on dressing rooms? And what should teams do when ancient creeds clash with modern culture?
For months, Daily Mail Sport has been speaking with Christian players, chaplains, and academics. We have found that some footballers are still mocked in dressing rooms for their beliefs. We have also heard tales of elite stars praying with non-League journeymen, and of faith sustaining players through injury crises and rescuing them from dark places after their retirement.
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha attracted controversy in Germany for his ‘The King’s Return’ celebration against Elversberg last Saturday
Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is one of a growing number of practising Christians in the Premier League
For many players, their beliefs and careers are inextricable. Brentford forward Igor Thiago thinks it was part of God’s plan for his father to die so that he would become a footballer and share his beliefs internationally.
‘If my father were alive, I do not think I would have become a footballer, because I think he wanted me to be someone else,’ Thiago tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘It wasn’t until later that I understood there was a purpose for me to come here and be someone else. To be Thiago, who is a footballer, who can speak about God for so many people, in another language.’
Thiago worked as a fruit-carrier, bricklayer, and rubbish collector from the age of 13 in the streets of Gama, Brazil, to provide for his family after his dad passed away. A career in the Premier League was unimaginable back then. Now he is the main man at Brentford and one of several players at the club professing a Christian faith.
And they are not alone in their devotion. Across the top six divisions, 75 per cent of clubs have a Christian in the first team and almost half regularly host Bible studies or prayer meetings, according to a survey of 134 outfits by Christians in Sport.
Their director, Graham Daniels, remembers being told in the 1980s that he was one of just four openly practising Christians in the professional game. An impossible claim to verify, but yes, you read that right, just four. Now you have starting XIs containing more believers than that – and we hear some managers have even been attending church with their squad members. ‘There’s a real movement of God within football,’ one chaplain at a professional club tells us.
Perhaps God is dwelling in the treatment room, too. Bournemouth winger Ben Gannon-Doak has had three major injuries in his career – to his knee, then quad, then hamstring – and credits his growing faith for helping him recover from each blow.
‘With the first, that was before I was strong in my faith – I didn’t cope with that one well. I was 17 and felt lost without being on the pitch,’ the 21-year-old tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘The quad injury, I coped better because I started slowly practising my faith more. When my hamstring injury came, I was closer to God than I had ever been before and I coped with that very easily, it was much easier mentally than the other two. I was able to play in the World Cup after that.
Brentford forward Igor Thiago thinks it was part of God’s plan for his father to die so that he would become a footballer and share his beliefs internationally
Arsenal’s ‘Bible Brothers’ are the most famous band of Christian players – around 10 of their stars including ‘pastor’ Jurrien Timber (left) pray together before matches
‘I believe all my injuries happened for a reason and I coped with them the way I did for a reason. I just need to trust God. It makes you stronger, prepares you for things, tests your character. It changes you. Faith has impacted my life in the best way possible.’
Multiple footballers interviewed for this piece cited the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 – ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ – as a key driver in their life. Gannon-Doak has it tattooed on his left arm.
Football has always had crossover with religion – Manchester City and Everton are among the many clubs to have started as church teams, for example – but the past few years have seen it assume more public prominence.
Arsenal’s ‘Bible Brothers’ are the most famous band of Christian players – around 10 of their stars including ‘pastor’ Jurrien Timber and Noni Madueke pray together in the hotel before matches, and regularly share Bible verses on social media. Organisations such as F3 and Ballers in God, who hold daily prayers and weekly Bible studies, have built Christian fellowship across the divisions.
‘Premier League players are on the same call with guys who are semi-pro at step four,’ Omar Beckles, a player for League Two Gillingham, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Lads got together virtually during the pandemic and have been consistently since.’ But why the explosion of Christian expression now?
‘An important factor has been the increasing number of players coming from Africa or Latin America, where pentecostalism and other forms of evangelical Christianity are strong,’ Hugh McLeod, Emeritus Professor of Church History at the University of Birmingham, explains to us.
‘Chaplains interviewed for an academic study in 2011 claimed that elite footballers had “a disproportionate passion for the faith” compared with the average member of society, and they saw the players who had come in from other continents as having a big influence on this.’
An earlier generation of Christian players graduating into management positions, as well as a broader shift in Gen Z asking the cosmic questions in life, has opened up football to the tender matters of faith. Group Bible studies, or even stoppages for Muslim players to break their Ramadan fasts, were unheard of until recent years.
‘Christians in a changing room can be frowned upon,’ says Steven Sessegnon, the Fulham academy graduate who now plays for AFC Wimbledon. He was mocked for being baptised
Marc Guehi was reprimanded by the FA after writing ‘Jesus loves you’ on Rainbow Laces armbands enforced by the Premier League in support of the LGBTQ+ community
Daniels, who is now a director at Cambridge United, says Christian values have earned players respect in the dressing room – and thinks faith could alleviate the turmoil players face when the final whistle blows on their career.
‘There was tremendous bullying in the 1980s and 1990s, but the more people saw authentic Christianity, the more they realised that it didn’t harm the changing room, but made it better,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Their integrity shone through – players felt if they talked to Christians, they wouldn’t gossip, and they’d be caring, and they wouldn’t be judgmental.
‘In football your identity is achieved. You’re as good as your last game. It’s too much pressure for players. That’s why people gamble, drink, and divorce when they retire, because you spent your life having to prove yourself and you don’t know what to do with yourself when you can’t anymore.
‘Or think about the academy players who are released at 16. You were the best kid in your class, then your town, your city, your region, the academy system. Then they are released and disappear from the game. Their identity is shot. They feel shame and failure for the rest of their lives.
‘If you know your identity and your purpose is a received gift from God, it’s a complete contrast to everything you’ve ever imbibed. He’s going to use your highs and lows in sport to draw you closer to Himself. He’s given you this vocation – this is your gift from Him and He loves you.’
Beckles concurs. ‘Being a Christian actually gives you an unfair advantage in football because you’re always living with some form of optimism and hope,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘You know there’s no despair. Setbacks are an opportunity to improve and go again. When my dad died, I really saw God show up. He granted me a level of peace and grace and joy just to function at that time when I was grieving.’
That said, there is clearly an occasional tension between faith and football, which can bring fame, wealth, and temptations untold. Pele, for example, was very open about his low-maintenance relationship with Christianity’s bedroom bylaws.
Meanwhile, Daily Mail Sport has heard of stars who have felt compelled to switch church after becoming Premier League regulars as they had become too recognised and overwhelmed by their original congregation.
City star Antoine Semenyo has a close relationship with pastor John Thompson and was baptised on a beach in Bournemouth last December
Then there’s the minefield of political and social issues which footballers are scrutinised over. When playing for Crystal Palace in 2024, Marc Guehi was reprimanded by the FA after writing ‘I love Jesus’ and ‘Jesus loves you’ on his Rainbow Laces captain’s armband, the wearing of which was enforced by the Premier League in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
And that brings us back to Nmecha. He could have simply pointed to the sky, or made a sign of the cross, when celebrating against Elversberg last Saturday. It wasn’t his expression of faith, but rather the specific King’s Return action associated with Ballers in God, which riled a certain crowd. No matter that other players, such as Nottingham Forest’s Jair Cunha, have deployed the celebration without incident. Klopp says that after their talks, Nmecha will not be repeating it. Dortmund executives will be breathing a sigh of relief.
The website for The King’s Return campaign initially linked to a live counselling chat run by conservative evangelical organisation Groundwire. There, counsellors espoused the beliefs that homosexuality is sinful and abortion is ‘Satan’s plan’. When Daily Mail Sport investigated the chat service, we were met with similar views.
It is not fully clear if Ballers in God agree with Groundwire, or if their members even assume a uniform theological position on such issues, but the network celebrated the scrapping of the Rainbow Laces initiative by the Premier League last year. They appear to have removed the link to the Groundwire chat in the wake of the Nmecha controversy. Daily Mail Sport made repeated requests for an interview with founder Bostock, who has been described as ‘hard to pin down’ and a ‘busy man’, but was turned down.
While high-profile incidents are a PR headache for clubs, there is no need for contrasting moral codes to disrupt a team’s cohesion. ‘You might not agree with someone, but you can respect them and treat them in a non-discriminatory way,’ says Dr Keith Parry, Principal Academic in Sport at Bournemouth University.
‘We’ve had openly gay players and referees at the top level in rugby. It is strange that men’s football is different, but questions around sexuality and inclusion go deeper than religion.
‘There are so many barriers (to players potentially coming out) such as toxic masculinity, fans making homophobic remarks, and so on. There are a lot of Middle Eastern and conservative North American owners in football – how might that impact on inclusion? It depends on the owner.’
Beckles, who has represented 14 clubs, believes Christian players have a duty to let love rather than division shine through. ‘Footballers are constantly in a world where there’s someone not far from them who will want something from them. Their manager and fans want them to perform, people want their signature, people want them to give them money, their agent wants commercial growth,’ he tells us.
Bournemouth and Scotland star Ben Gannon-Doak (right) has the verse ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ tattooed on his left arm
The young winger credits his faith with helping him through three major injuries
‘It’s nice to meet someone that doesn’t want anything from them and genuinely cares for them eternally. That level of love should set people apart.’
Despite dressing rooms becoming more tolerant of faith, some players still face derision. ‘Christians in a changing room can be frowned upon or mocked,’ says Steven Sessegnon, a player for League One side AFC Wimbledon, who was taunted after being baptised while at a previous club.
‘You hear some real nasty things. Some boys don’t understand, which we give them grace for. What scares me the most is why people get so worked up about footballers who are believers.
‘We’re not bothering anyone. We’re going about our business in a loving and caring way. It really rubs people the wrong way and it can cause arguments inside the changing room. One boy was told he will never play because he’s too soft, because he’s a Christian.’
On matchday, faith is increasingly visible and impacts how players go about their business. The temples are not always glamorous – we hear that some players have even met in the sanctuary of a broom cupboard to squeeze in prayer. Clubs offer what they can. At League One Plymouth, they take the analysis suite – at Arsenal, they have a multi-faith prayer room. Across the pyramid, prayers often ask for protection from injury and the chance to glorify God – but not for a win.
At Championship Charlton, six to eight players read the scriptures and pray together. ‘They have God-given talents and want to use them as an act of worship,’ says club chaplain Matt Baker, who is also on hand at the training ground on Fridays to pray with players. ‘When you see players do the sign of the cross after scoring a goal, they see it as evangelistic, but it’s also expressing to God that I’m doing this for you, for your glory.’
At Exeter City in League Two, chaplain George Baker tries to spread the love around the club. ‘I’ll do the rounds of the stadium and chat to the stewards and grounds staff,’ he says. ‘It’s a great opportunity to value the people who are making matchday happen.’
Beckles says that religious considerations even factor on the field. ‘How do you live with a level of integrity when you want to win? It’s winning in the right way. The “dark arts” are really difficult to navigate,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport, and he is not the only player to express this feeling to us.
‘Being a Christian actually gives you an unfair advantage in football because you’re always living with some form of optimism and hope,’ says Omar Beckles (right)
‘In my heart of hearts, I’d like to think I wouldn’t dive to win a penalty – that’s deception. I try my best not to do any of that. But there is the heat of the moment that exposes our nature.’
Gannon-Doak adds: ‘Players losing their temper, starting fights, that’s the stuff I try to avoid. But some of the dark arts, that’s just part of the game.’
A popular Christian slogan since the 1890s goes as follows: ‘What would Jesus do?’ Typically it is applied to quandaries in a believer’s life – how to treat somebody who has seriously wronged you, for instance.
Not as often has it been wondered: ‘Would Jesus go down if a sweaty centre-back tugged his shirt in the penalty box in the 90th minute?’ But the next time you catch a game, you might just catch an athlete wrestling with that kind of question. What would you do?
To read more about the relationship that Brentford players have with their faith, see here.
