Wednesday night saw a titanic football fixture take place on the hallowed turf of Hadley Stadium in Bearwood. With the Floodlights burning into the night sky and an expectant crowd of bemused children and worried partners, ‘Friends of Birmingham FC’ took to the field against a team put together by Wragge and Co. the big firm from the big city.

Friends of Birmingham are a coalition of newly arrived young men, who united by their passion for football have competed in a national refugee competition in Sheffield and play amongst themselves in the park on a Sunday to keep the spirit alive. Their aim is to play friendly games against all comers from the ‘host community’ here in Birmingham, to allow better integration and understanding between the diverse peoples of the city.

Although their base in made from Albanians on the whole, English was still the common language and the happy blend took the fight to Wragge and Co. from the start, with young striker Romeo causing havoc to the solicitors defence. Unbelievably after half and hour of deadlock the plucky locals managed to poke their noses in front with a neat header from a corner that left the part time keeper, who had no goalkeeping kit, stranded. 1- 0 to Wragge at half time.

It looked as though, it would be a sad debut game for the newcomers, but the second half started with an onslaught, and Wragge were rocked back into their area for long periods. Romeo pounced for a quick equaliser and in wasn’t long before FoBFC were ahead. As the sides started to feel the pace in the last 25 minutes, the goals started to flow, but unfortunately for the Legal Firm, only at one end. Another from Romeo, a clearcut penalty from ‘AJ’, and classy lob from Diego Maradona look-alike and midfield legend, bizarrely also called ‘Romeo’ made it a crushing 4-1, before Romeo the striker, who was hustling up front all night made it a hatrick in the last moments.

The 5-1 final score belied a fairly fought and evenly matched contest, and both sides were quick to heap praise on each other for the way the game was conducted at the final whistle. Rumours abound that a rematch is on the cards.

Friends of Birmingham FC seek to help promote integration between all the diverse communities of the second city, and are looking for anyone who can help them get a game, played purely for the love of the game. If you have any teams or other support to offer, please email  doninchile@yahoo.co.uk . Many thanks to Wragge for their hosting and sportsmanship, please note that there is no connection between the company and this article and the football team, except that we played them!