About Spirit of Football
Spirit of Football is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company.
Company No. 06827502
Registered address
19 Home Farm Way,
Easter Compton,
Bristol,
BS35 5SE
Donations
Every penny donated to Spirit of Football CIC helps make this project happen, now and in the future. The button below allows you to donate via Paypal:
Alternatively, please use the following bank account details to donate by some other means. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need more information.
HSBC
Sort Code: 40-09-44
Account: 60126969
IBAN: GB75MIDL40094460126969
BIC: MIDLGB2102G
HSBC SWIFT CODE: MIDLGB22
Christian Wach, Director
Christian travelled to more than 50 countries following his passion for street theatre, programme-making and storytelling. He performed many shows featuring juggling, magic and acrobatics, and worked in Asia, Australasia, Polynesia and America. Highlights of his travels included an audience with the Dalai Lama, experiencing the reunification of Germany, meeting the Queen of Tonga, escaping unharmed from the Thai mafia and living with tribal people in the rainforests of Sumatra. He now lives near Bath, UK where he works as as an interactive media developer.
Phil Wake, Director
Convinced of the extraordinary power football has to connect people all over the world, Phil devotes much of his energy to the Spirit of Football CIC. He does this in his spare time from furniture restoration, developing musicianship on drums, acoustic guitar and singing, having spent 6 years running and performing with Burn, an acid jazz outfit from Bristol, UK. He shares child care of Jasper, his 1 year old boy, and is also skilled in circus arts, including juggling, acrobatics and sleight-of-hand magic. He now lives in Brighton, UK.
Andrew Aris, Director
Andrew has football running through his veins. As a player, he played football for New Zealand (Under 20 national team), the University of Notre Dame in the USA (1996-2000) and professionally for Rot Weiss Erfurt in Germany. As a fan, living in Amsterdam, he enjoyed the EURO 2000 Championships. In 2002, living in Korea, he vividly lived the power of the first FIFA World Cup in Asia. In 2005 he interned in the German World Cup Organising Committee, graduated with a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Erfurt School of Public Policy (ESPP), and founded the non-profit association Spirit of Football e.V. Andrew has been involved with The Ball since 2005. "As soon as I saw the 2002 5 minute film, I knew that I absolutely had to get involved. Now The Ball has become an obsession."
Company background
In 1998, Christian Wach and Phil Wake went to the World Cup in France to record the songs and celebrations of the supporters. They were captivated by the power that music had to bring rival fans together — and discovered through kickabouts that football truly is a global language. Regardless of the outcome on the field of play, they saw people from all over the world come together to celebrate life through football...
In 2002, infected by the World Cup bug, they made a trip to Korea and Japan overland — using a football as their passport to games with local people. Setting off from England, the birthplace of the modern game, they suddenly realised that their ball could become a legend — it was "The Ball", football's equivalent to the Olympic torch. The Spirit of Football was born...
On 23rd February 2009, Spirit of Football became a not-for-profit Community Interest Company. The aim of the company is to help establish the legend of The Ball by organising and making the trips of The Ball to the World Cup, for as long as there is a World Cup.
