Why would a Christian pastor start a football club?
Whether it was the regular smell of blood and mud, or the festered boredom of mass unemployment, I don’t know.
But in 1880 something moved the Reverend Arthur Connell, and a small group of volunteers in his church, to start St. Mark’s football club.
East Manchester was a sad, poor, and violent place, where gangs of young men with no jobs and no prospects would organise mass fights—just for the sake of something to do.
This hapless team, thrown together to encourage young guys to find a better outlet, was the seed that would become Man City F.C., who at the time of writing (April 2026) have been premier league champions for six of the last ten years.
But why?
A pastor’s job is simple: to tell people that, in Jesus, God is not against them:
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
God has forgiven you! You don’t need to do anything. So as far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing preventing a warm, loving, relationship. God is in a good mood with you! Look at Jesus!
And yet, as you tell people that message, you can’t help but love them, and take an interest and care in the whole of their lives.
God loves you. And he cares about the whole of your life.
On the cross Jesus forgave you. But three days later he rose from the dead, showing that your whole life—including your body—matters to him.
One day, God promises to raise you from the dead and reunite you with your body. And the body you have now is a gift from him too. He wants you to enjoy it as best as you can.
Not because he wants something from you, but because he cares about you.
And that’s why a pastor would start a football club. That’s why Man City exists.
Your whole life matters to God, but not because you’ve done anything. To hear about why God values you simply because of his unconditional love, listen to this: Do I Make Enough of A Difference To Matter?
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