Celtic FC Foundation launches girls’ football programme in Brixton
Coaches from the Celtic FC Foundation launched a girls’ football programme in Brixton, south London, aiming to give girls and young women from underprivileged backgrounds a chance to play, with local teams taking part despite torrential rain. The Brixton scheme is one of several initiatives the foundation set up after it began working in London to mark Celtic’s 125th anniversary in 2013; another, based in Hackney, is called Breaking Barriers and helps integrate refugee and asylum-seeking communities through sport.
“It is a really good opportunity for people to get involved,” says Vladyslav Kysil, a former professional player from Ukraine who has been working as a coach for the foundation since moving to the UK in 2023. He said he was surprised to see a Scottish club so active in London but added: “But when I read the history, I realised they have real heritage in London.” Celtic were founded in 1887 as a charity by Brother Walfrid to provide hot meals for Irish immigrants; he moved to London’s East End in 1893 and worked with underprivileged children in Bow and Bethnal Green.
In his memory the foundation expanded beyond its traditional heartland, with programmes in Sligo and several US cities as well as in London. Tony Hamilton, the foundation’s chief executive, said the work is central to the club: “This is not an exercise for us,” he said. “This is inherent in who we are and it’s in our DNA.
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