Continuing our occasional series of interviews with various personnel at Leicester City, today is the first in a series of articles focusing on club chaplain and foxes trust member Bruce Nadin.
What does a club chaplain actually do?
Basically I supply an extra, independent strand of support to the club, providing varied services including pastoral care, spiritual care (regardless of religious background) and counselling/welfare support. There is more than this to it, but this is a sufficient overview of the work undertaken…….
Is it a full time occupation?
No, it is an honorary unpaid role. My full time occupation is as the Minister at Sutton Elms Baptist Church, where I have been in post for nearly 7 years now.
I think I am right in saying that your role is covered by an umbrella organisation called SCORE – is this correct & if so what can you tell me about the work of SCORE?
SCORE was first established in 1990/91 by The Reverend John Boyers who is Manchester United Chaplain and chairman of SCORE. Its purpose is to co-ordinate Church support to ALL sports not just football, for example, in Rugby Union, bar Leicester Tigers, all the Zurich Premiership Clubs have a club chaplain. Some 70-75% of Premier League and Football League clubs now have SCORE affiliated Chaplains. SCORE is endorsed by the PFA, the FA and the League Managers Association (LMA). It is also strongly endorsed by many famous football personnel including Alex Ferguson.
What do you most like about your role here?
Basically it is the fact that it is an extension of my role as a minister into a field I have utmost interest in i.e. football, and in particular, Leicester City. I am delighted to be able to provide support and a listening ear to all who require my services.
What are your biggest challenges?
I suppose the biggest challenge is to demystify what a club chaplain does and coupled with that, demystify the false perceptions of the Church, Christians and Church leaders. I have never experienced the media, but particularly TV, to portray Christians in a way that I know of. We are not all like Dot Cotton from Eastenders! So enabling people to understand the role (and the fact that I am not here to belt people over the head with a six foot high bible) is arguably my biggest challenge.
Have you ever prayed for a City win?
No, and recent seasons surely emphasises that fact! I must admit I have been tempted on occasions. Whilst I have no doubt that God loves football and people in the world of football, I have no evidence of him being affiliated to any particular club! On a more serious note though, I do pray for all the staff and players at the club.
Two related questions now are:
How did you become involved with LCFC? And,
The chain of events leading to your appointment as club Chaplin were remarkable can you explain these again for the people that don't know.
Well, I’d certainly agree that it’s a remarkable story. I think the events surrounding my appointment are difficult to explain away.
You know as much as I love the football club, I wasn’t looking to get involved. I lead a growing and dynamic Church. I’d got enough on my plate. But a whole series of what I believe were ‘God-incidences’ took place that convinced me that this was something that God wanted me to get involved in.
A full version of the events can be found on the Foxes Trust web site via the following link
http://www.foxestrust.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=535 or via Bruce’s Church web site using the following link: http://www.suttonelms.co.uk/stories.htm#bruce
What do you say to Bill Shankly's famous quote "People Say football is a matter of life and death" , " I believe it is much more important than that"?
Let me first say that I think it was a very much tongue in cheek statement that Bill Shankly made. However, in the middle of a crucial game, for example a key promotion/relegation game or a play off final, I can understand what he meant. You know like the vast majority of fans I get so immersed in the game and in the moment, that what I’m watching becomes everything. Believe me, I understand that! In reality though, when you come across real heart wrenching tragedies, for example, Hillsborough, it does make a mockery of such statements. So, in the cold light of day, of course it is not more important than life or death, but it is still a very important part of life.
Look out for part two of this series, when we ask Bruce how his role in general has helped and supported people at the club.