11/11/2025
Clive Hammond
Here, former professional footballer Dele Adebola tells Police Oracle how he and his community project is pushing to stop anti-social behaviour by using the sport to turn the younger generation's attention to new pathways and not crime.
Moseley Rugby Club is located just over four miles away from Birmingham City Football Club’s St Andrew’s ground, a place that is quickly becoming established the world over thanks to the financial backing of iconic American Football star Tom Brady.
And it’s a space where one former City hero is helping to transform the lives of youngsters from across the region, shifting a generation’s attention from crime and anti-social behaviour to the beautiful game.
Dele Adebola, who also played for current FA Cup champions Crystal Palace and former European Cup winners Nottingham Forest during a long career that was launched in the early Nineties, is speaking to Police Oracle after his project, Strike9 was given a financial boost by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster.
The project offers free football sessions and coaching qualifications to vulnerable young people in the region, with participants often referred via the police or schools.
For Dele it’s a chance for him to help steer others on a different pathway through football, like he was when he moved to Liverpool from Lagos, in Nigeria, as a baby.
While growing up, alongside poverty, the ex-Burnley FC frontman was also faced the Toxteth riots of 1981, which saw long-standing tensions between local police and the black community come to a head.
It’s what drove him to give back because all types of antisocial behavior and criminality in communities are so often linked to poverty.
“I’m not ashamed to say it, but my background and all that was around me was like that,” Dele told Police Oracle.
“I grew up in those riots, and through them, and then you look to what is happening nowadays and unfortunately the poverty gap has grown.
“I’m not an expect, but you can see it visually – there’s more money with some people and the people with less, that is growing… it’s a problem that has to be tackled and everyone has got to give a bit back as well.”
Growing up in Liverpool, he unsurprisingly idolised the likes of former England internationals John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, “trying to emulate them on the playground”.
He recalled that he lived close to one of the area’s first 3G pitches, and so the opportunity to go down to the pitch and really let off some steam every day helped set him on his quest that took him to Wembley, where he represented Birmingham City in their 2001 League Cup final defeat to Liverpool FC.
“I was literally there every day,” the former Coventry City striker said.
“If I wasn’t there with friends I was asking people if I could join and play and developed a real love of football, and sport in general. And it’s something that’s just stayed with me until now – and I’m still playing at 50.”
When he made the West Midlands his home, Dele wanted to give something back and soon found that a similar set of pitches were being destroyed by bored youngsters.
“Some of the young people who couldn’t get on to the pitched would drive their cars – stolen cars – on to the pitch,” he continued.
“Really disruptive stuff in and around the community. And now these companies have reached out and helped us turn some of these spaces into nicer spots and facilities.
“If they look run down and battered then people are going to treat it like that. It’s not a safe space… so there’s a constant drive to make them nicer and more appealing to these young people.”
The money from the PCC will pay for weekly football sessions at Moseley Rugby Club and Edmund Campion School for the next six months, as well as training and qualifications for 30 young people to work as paid football coaches and mentors.
It’s after Strike9 moved to a new base at Moseley Rugby Club where they have brought a much-loved but neglected pitch back into use.
Strike9 took over the site 12 months ago. Since then, they have secured the grounds, repaired fencing, and installed new goals. This comes in response to rising levels of anti-social behaviour, including damage to fencing, motorbikes on pitches, and a serious incident involving a stolen car.
Dele also has further plans to upgrade the Astro to a 3G pitch next Summer.
The upgrade forms part of ambitious plans to transform the whole site at Billesley Common into a multi-sports village. It already features Padel courts and volleyball courts, donated from the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Foster added: “It is brilliant to see that Strike9 has found a new home, with exciting plans to build a sense of community around a new and improved pitch and facilities. This will raise the aspirations of young people who need somewhere to turn, and role models to look up to.”