Magic happens every Monday on a pitch tucked away from the road at Tiber Football Centre on Lodge Lane.
Once a professional footballer with Tottenham Hotspur's women's team, Comfort Etim, 38, set up Comfort's Angels in 2018 while working with Refugee Women Connect. Inspired by her own experience becoming homeless and claiming asylum in the UK after being taken from Nigeria and kept against her will in London in 2003, Comfort wanted a space where women could find community amid the loneliness of the asylum process.
She created a haven for women like Amaneh, 68, who used to play basketball with her friends, but couldn't compete in matches, join a team or play football in Iran, where she's from. She feels proud now she plays with Comfort's Angels, which allowed her to make "good, new friends". Amaneh said: "I like playing football and I enjoy it because it makes me happy. I forget my problems. Comfort is very nice and very kind."
What's happening at this football pitch in Toxteth is gaining welcome media attention. The Anfield Wrap was at the Comfort's Angels training session this week, one of several they've visited as they produce a documentary on the team. On Monday, March 28, social justice platform shado released a short film about Comfort's Angels, produced in collaboration with Amnesty, which funds the team. Goalkeeper Hana told shado: "It was a dream in my cupboard as a child."
But like Amaneh, she couldn't play football in Albania, which she left eight years ago, saying the attitude was that "football is for men and not for women". She was frustrated she would've been branded a troublemaker and "would not have a future there" if she played. But the dream never died, and meeting Comfort when she started the team in 2018 allowed Hana to finally realise that dream.
Hana said: "In the beginning, [my family] didn't accept it. Then when I sent them pictures and videos of our training and tournaments, they started accepting it a little bit. I said, 'Look, I'm raising my children somewhere where no one cares where you come from, what do you wear, whatever you do, no one cares. I want to raise my children in freedom'."
The mum of two was granted refugee status in December and starts training to become a coach in May, but many of the women here are stuck in limbo while they await decisions on their asylum applications. Some are only in Liverpool temporarily before they're moved to accommodation elsewhere in the country.
Comfort said: "It definitely breaks our hearts because stability is something we really want for all our women to have. But at the end of the day, we keep in touch with them. I ensure that, whatever city they've been dispersed to, we find a support system around there. It might not be football, it might just be a group of people who support people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
"But it is heartbreaking. We definitely miss our women who are no longer in Liverpool. It's a community, it's a family. The women befriend each other, they keep in touch with each other. It goes beyond just coming here on a Monday."
Among those still living in temporary accommodation with Home Office support of roughly £40 a week is Hana's former neighbour, Fatima, who she invited to a training session a year and a half ago.
Fatima doesn't even watch football, and never imagined playing it. But the mum of two, who struggles to sleep, feels welcome and not judged when she comes to socialise and keep fit with people who have similar experiences. She loves the excitement of a match and goes home feeling relaxed.
The 36-year-old said: "Comfort's Angels is a beautiful platform. It has really, really been helping people like us. We come here and at that moment, you forget about every other thing. Your heart is lights, your mood is light and you just want to interact. You forget about whatever it is you're thinking about that's not making you happy at that moment."
As the session ran, Comfort shouted encouragement at women on the pitch and beckoned kids over the fence so she could watch them while a player minded a row of babies in prams. When it ended, Comfort lingered in the carpark, mingling with a smile on her face as the women left in pairs.
She told the ECHO: "That was the motive, giving opportunity to women who have not been able to really express themselves. Women are always disproportionate in terms of football. Things like coming out and playing football, some religions don't like it, some traditions don't like it.
"I'm from Nigeria, we have a female team, but there're some communities, some traditions, that will not allow a girl child to participate in games like this. So for women to have that opportunity now to express it, why not? Hence why we have the space, hence why I'm pushing for other cities, other county FAs to set up open spaces like this, where women who have not been able to express themselves can come out of their shells."
Despite the attention, along with funding from Amnesty International and support from Liverpool County FA, they still lack equipment. Shin pads are required to play in the She Inspires league, which they compete in, but "none of the women have shinpads", Comfort said. Many don't own their own football boots, so Comfort is always looking for new ways to support the team.
Speaking of their five-minute documentary released this week, shado co-founder Isabella Perace said: "It's great that male refugee players and teams have seen some coverage over the past few years, but it's rare this space is offered for refugee women who face their own unique set of barriers. The documentary celebrates stories of these amazing women and allows their voices to come through on a subject where their experiences are so often sidelined."
You can watch shado's documentary here.
