Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Lou Macari went from lifting the Cup to helping the homeless

The column inches and hot air devoted to the summer sport of transfer speculation appears to have reached a peak.

So, with a column to fill, there is a story of genuine substance I’d like to share, that sheds a positive light on the work of one former footballer away from the multi million pound deals, circling agents and recalcitrant midfielders that are dominating the back pages of the tabloids right now.

Just a mile north of Stoke-on-Trent, in the town of Hanley, are a handful of single-storey buildings on Hanley Road that the local council operates its parking services office from.

Unless you’d fallen foul of the council’s parking rules, there would be no reason to visit. But over the last four years another group of people have made this place home.

Behind the front reception, a couple of the office blocks have been converted into a homeless centre. There are male and female dormitories, shower and toilet blocks, kitchens and a common room.

This refuge for the most vulnerable people in society, those who have nowhere else to turn, is all the work of former Manchester United star of the 1970s, Lou Macari.

Two-and-a-half years ago I was able to visit the centre for a feature we made on Soccer Saturday. At the time Macari, an adopted son of Stoke after his two spells managing the city’s football club, revealed the moment that led him to set up the centre.

“Well I was walking through Hanley one night, and people had told me there were a lot of rough sleepers there, it was about half seven at night.

“Very quickly I saw three or four people in doorways here and there. I think throughout the night I saw 20 to 25 people in doorways. I thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ There was no need for people to be sleeping rough in any city where there are properties.

“My only intention at the time was to get these people off the street and keep them warm and dry. I thought that would be a good start.

“From day one we were given the facilities by the council and the beds and other equipment was put here for us from the start.

“The response from everybody in Stoke has been brilliant.”

Macari received more good news from the council just a few months ago, when they made a £40,000 grant to the homeless centre.

“It has enabled him to purchase a minibus and some new equipment for the centre, which has gone a long way to improving the lives of those who drop by for just a few nights or the ones who stay much longer.

“Trips out from the centre help break the daily cycle that some of the homeless get stuck in, helping with mental health issues.

“Sadly, it can be the smallest margins that lead people to the streets.

“There are times when we get people in here who struggle to handle financial situations. They may get a fine for something minor or a bill and can’t pay it and then they get stuck.

“They’ve got in a spiral that they can’t get out of and they need someone to come along and show them a way out. Life has been tough for them.

“Sadly, the demand in Stoke is that we are turning people away at night, and you just don’t want to do that.”

Macari believes it is important to invest time and effort in everybody who walks through the doors, no matter what their problems are.

“We had a gentleman from Lithuania and he was drunk every night and after three or four weeks I had given up on him because I thought we were making no progress whatsoever. He had threatened to kill himself two or three times, and even tried to throw himself under a bus.

“And then one day he walked in and he wasn’t drunk. He just stopped drinking. Three weeks later he came and told me he’d found a job and shortly after that he moved out. It taught me very early on not to give up on anybody. There are no lost causes in here.”

The staff and volunteers at the Macari Centre help those that stay with all aspects of their life, giving them emotional support and administrative help when they are faced with appointments at the job centre, housing association or in court. It is an ongoing project for Macari and the volunteers at the centre.

Unfortunately the number of beds available at short notice is still not as substantial as Macari would like. The welfare cuts have had a savage impact on Stoke – £316,000 was cut from homelessness services budget last year and that figure will rise to £1million by next year.

Local support is invaluable, with supermarkets often donating food, and other service industries chipping in. If you find yourself in Stoke one day, with a bit of spare change, then look up The Macari Centre. A donation here helps some of the most vulnerable in society today.