UNITED IN GRIEF

MOST players dream of goals and glory as they pull on their kit for a new season.

But not Britain’s most inspiring footballers. They play for something far deeper – their lost babies.

Unified in grief, Sands Utd was started by dads devastated by the deaths of their children during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

Each game is dedicated to the tragic tots and the players have the names of their lost children embroidered next to their hearts.

Many of the players suffered depression and bottled up their feelings. Some were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Taboo

meeting of bereaved parents. But the emotion of thinking about Nolan was too much for Leon.

He said. “We were one of the first ones there and I ran to the toilet and threw up. It was too much for me.

“We were asked to write the name of our child on the board and just writing Nolan was so hard, so hard.” At the meeting, a dad said he was organising a charity football match to raise money for the charity Sands and asked Leon to join in. The game was a big success and Leon threw himself into the club when they decided to form a team.

Eloise is now 26 weeks pregnant and Leon is terrified that what happened to Nolan may happen again.

He said: “The players have a group chat and we are always talking. It is like a family. If anyone says their missus is in hospital we all feel it.

“We all feel the emotion, we all the feel the pain. Whenever someone has a rainbow baby, a baby after the death of a child, we all send a baby box of goodies.”

Jake Bull’s daughter Olivia was born at 21 weeks and lasted just an hour before dying in partner Kirsty Briggs’ arms.

He said: “We didn’t want to talk about what had happened. We were just there for each other.

“Kirsty would come in from being out and I’d be sat in a ball on the floor sobbing my heart out not knowing what to do. I’d sometimes walk in from work and find her broken. “A lot of people didn’t want to talk about it, not many would hear me out. I lost quite a few friends as nobody was really there for me when I needed them. “So when I met a bunch of guys in the same boat as me it has really helped me open up. “I was always a confident person but it really shook me. The club has given me my confidence back.” Leon dreams of seeing a host of Sands Uniteds around the country. He said: “Because of Sands I have memories, I have mementoes of my son.” He added: “These are things people take for granted but this charity has given these magical moments to so many couples and that is priceless.”

For more info see sandsunitedfc.co.uk.