Scotland - Homeless World Cup Champions 2007

In 2007 I was Minister for Communities and Sport in the first ever SNP Government. In that role I was fortunate enough to get the chance to provide some support to the Scotland homeless football team to allow them to travel to play in the Homeless World Cup.

The reason I got involved was that the support they thought they had in place to help cover their costs evaporated shortly before they were due to travel to the finals. I was asked if I could help and I was delighted to do so. With the resources in place they travelled to Copenhagen in Denmark for the 5th Homeless World cup.

Scotland were the team to beat from the start, winning all their group games and scoring 31 goals in the process. Superb form and great team play took them all the way to the final where they faced Poland. Although facing talented opponents in the Polish team the Scots overcame them in handsome fashion winning the game 9-3 to lift the Homeless World Cup for the first time.

As a token of their appreciation for the support they had received they presented me with a framed Scotland shirt with my name on it and signed by all the players. In the picture you can see the shirt in its frame along with two small photos. The one on the left was taken at the moment they won the World Cup and the one on the right was taken at Easter Road and shows the team, the First Minister Alex Salmond MSP, Alex McLeish (the then Scotland manager), me and the trophy.

Of all my experiences as a Government Minister this is one of the ones I treasure most and the framed shirt from 2007 still hangs proudly in my office.