IT’S the famous old adage which – despite the best efforts of some – has stood the test of time.

Now, one of the city’s newest football teams is doing its bit to prove sport really does more to unite us than divide us by putting the community at the heart of everything they do.

For the volunteers of Glasgow Saints FC what happens off the pitch is just as important as events on it and they’ve made it their mission to score support for those less fortunate in the East End. 

It’s worked, even if 2020 hasn’t been the maiden year chairwoman Emma Jones and head of football Kyle Burgess quite had in mind. 

“Our purpose from day one has been to combat food poverty and isolation,” Emma, 36, says during a Zoom call with the three of us last month. “Kyle and I have been friends for a few years now and we know each other well. That meant we knew our values aligned very closely.

Glasgow Times: The team has collected clothing throughout the year The team has collected clothing throughout the year

“Whatever we decided to do – and this has worked out being this football team – we knew we were going to give it our all and make it a success.”

From the get go, the Dennistoun team has been split into two separate, but linked, divisions: charity and football. Emma, who heads the former, has used her expertise to launch food drives, clothing collections, and submit an application for charitable status, but it’s Kyle’s background which inspired the decision to start up a club.

“I played with United Glasgow,” the 34-year-old explains. “I had moved from Perth and loved my football and stuff. I didn’t really know where to play then found this place and there’s guys from Greece, Canada, and more difficult places who have come to Glasgow to seek solace.

“The team then moved to Saturdays and I couldn’t do them because I am a barber. I continued to support the team but found myself getting into bad habits, although I do have a good support network of friends and family. That included getting drunk and eating rubbish.

“I realised football wasn’t just something I enjoyed. It brought me together with people and it regulated me. I thought: ‘If that’s me with so many good things in my life, how many others are there that don’t have a club that’s welcoming?’”

It was rotten, then, luck that as soon as Kyle, Emma, and the rest of the committee had the foundations in place, lockdown arrived and football was put on the back burner for the foreseeable future. That could so easily have been that for Glasgow Saints, but they weren’t prepared to give up so easily.

“Unfortunately, covid hit and that might have been the sign for some people to hit the pause button and stop what they were doing but we tried to spin that into a positive and made it work for us,” Emma, who is also originally from Perth, says. “We committed a full-time working week to just getting this organisation off the ground. It’s been a fantastic year, covid aside, for the amount of things we have been able to do.”

Kyle jumps in to add: “We started training in January and had an application to join a league. 

“Then lockdown hit but rather than downing tools we thought we’d put together fitness plans, solidify our application to the league, and put the foundations in place.

“Essentially we had no league and no strips but we were just a group of boys down the park. We were giving them training plans and that sort of thing and treating it like a professional club. Why wouldn’t you do everything to the highest standard?

“These guys had been playing for teams for years and suddenly were getting information just on Zoom calls which looked like a professional outfit.”

Following a period of trials when lockdown rules allowed, the Saints could finally boast a first team squad. Crucially, Kyle and Emma maintain ambitions to establish community sides so those who don’t quite make the main event can still enjoy the camaraderie of the club. 

How, then, do Kyle and Emma create an atmosphere that’s welcoming but also strives to be competitive?

“We need to ensure the players have someone they can speak to confidentially if they have any issues, which is something that can be missing in a lot of teams,” Kyle answers.

“That can be something as simple as a clash of personalities.

“At the point of recruitment, every player is sent a message that this is an anti-discriminatory club. We make it clear what this means and we have a category of selection called the Four As. Attitude, Application, Attendance, and Ability. You don’t need to nail all four of them but it’s how we are deciding the team.

“If, for instance, we have a player who might be like Paul Scholes but he’s not turning up to training or putting the work in, then we won’t carry them. This isn’t like other clubs where the best players will play on a Sunday and we need buy-in from everyone.

“But, there also won’t be any negativity and we encourage players to quite rightly try to inspire others. 

“Any language like ‘what you doing that for’ doesn’t have a place. That will lead me, and I’ve done this a few times, to take people aside and explain to them why it’s not okay.

“However, it’s also about a balance and we won’t just be the Renford Rejects turning up for a laugh on a Sunday.

“When we have the community team and drop-in sessions, that will allow anyone, say me or you, who has heard of us to turn up. 

“That will act threefold: it will tackle isolation, give people access to football in Dennistoun for a fiver – which goes to charity – and then give the first team a bigger pool of players to choose from.”

As Kyle finishes the thought, a warning flashes to say we’re nearing the end of our time limit and I put one final question to the pair: why did they choose football? 

“For others coming in, football has always been a team sport and it’s about bringing folk together with an overall objective of learning how to play and interact together,” Emma says.

Glasgow Times: Kyle, centre, heads the football department of Glasgow Saints Kyle, centre, heads the football department of Glasgow Saints

“We’re also a safe and welcoming space, regardless of your background and whether you speak perfect English or not. It’s about having that opportunity to allow folk to come together.

“You can try and talk it into something that sounds complex and difficult but I don’t think it is. It’s about bringing guys together.”

To find out more about Glasgow Saints, visit their social media channels.