Wayside Stories

The Journey of the Waysiders

by Stephen Riley  

On Thursday, 4th December, 2008, 11 of us from the Wayside Chapel left Sydney to support the Street Socceroos in the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne.

The bonding between the 11 of us, even though we were strangers, was quite strong from the start. On the way down on the bus, we listened and sang to music and just had a great time as a group. 

We didn’t drive all the way to Melbourne that day, we stopped for the night at a motel in Lavington. The next morning we continued on to Melbourne. While in Melbourne, we stayed in Melbourne University student housing in Carlton. It was called Medley Hall and it was a beautiful old stone building. 

At 4:20 that afternoon, we went to Federation Square to support the Street Socceroos in the first match we were in Melbourne to see. One of the highlights was meeting other homeless people from all around the world and how friendly they were, wanting to know more about our country. 

Australia finished 22nd in the Cup and it was good to see Afghanistan winning the final as it is the first time Afghanistan has won any sporting event. In finishing, ‘Go the Wall!’ The Wall was the Aussie goalkeeper and was nominated as one of the top three goalies of the World Cup.

Overall there was a good time had by everyone, and I would like to thank Wendy, Bonnie, Michael and Bill for giving us the opportunity to go to Melbourne.