Jonathan Mady

From being signed by Tottenham at 12 years old, to being released at 16 and then spiralling into homelessness. Jonathan's journey to the Street Soccer Academy is a compelling one.

Being a footballer for me is the best job in the world.

When I got released, it crushed me! I didn't know how to feel good, I just felt bad.

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Jonathan the popstar!

When we first came across Jonathan, to his own admission, he was very uncertain about the programme and whether he should be there with us or what he’d actually get out of it. He also looked like a popstar when he arrived into the room, dressed in a flashy tracksuit wearing a baseball cap and wearing big Jordan-type trainers. His head was down and he slouched into his chair, lifting his head briefly to acknowledge the greeting he received from our Coach Lead. It was a time of challenge and difficulty for Jonathan and there was a great deal of unknown ahead of him. All he’d ever wanted was to become a professional footballer, but he’d been released from his club and had his world crumble around him. He felt cut off and unsure of what would happen next for him. He was very low in confidence and didn’t know quite how to get ‘back on track’.

His confidence and self-belief improved

Being warmly welcomed and encouraged to give the Academy programme his all, he committed and came through the ten weeks at the Tottenham Hotspur Street Soccer Academy superbly well. He became an example to many others around him and grew massively as a person. His confidence and self-belief improved – but not only that, he now had a clear pathway ahead. A route he could take all the while maintaining his aspirations to make it as a footballer.

Training to become a coach

Jonathan successfully completed the Academy programme, became a Young Ambassador and is now embarking on a Traineeship with the Spurs Foundation, training to become a Coach, whilst co-assisting in future Street Soccer Academy programmes, helping others.

May 2022 Update!

We are very pleased to announce that Jonathan has now secured a paid employment role at Tottenham Hotspur – congratulations J!

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Jonathan was part of our Tottenham Hotspur Foundation Academy

Learn more about the Street Soccer Academy and our friends at Stories for Change who created this fabulous video and have lots more inspiring stories on their website.

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