The Melting Pot

Mehdi Rakhshandeh, England

MFC Foundation is a Middlesbrough charity that uses the power of football to make a positive difference and began working with those seeking refuge and asylum in 2015. Weekly ‘Club Together’ football sessions started along with ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) provision. Through funding from Amnesty International the programme was renamed Football Welcomes in 2019. It has developed to offer four weekly football sessions for both men and women. The Foundation is working with participants on Level One coaching and refereeing qualifications.

Can you tell us your personal story?

My name is Mehdi Rakhshandeh and was born in Rasht, a city in the north of Iran. I played football regularly as a goalkeeper in Iran, not at a high level or anything, just games with my friends from the local town. I was a sport photographer and reporter in Iran for 15 years. I worked for the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) and was a photographer for the Iranian club Sepidrood Rasht S.C., but I left Iran in November 2017 and arrived in Middlesbrough in January 2018. Growing up in Iran the team I supported was Esteghlal FC but now I have adopted Middlesbrough as my team.

I moved to London in November 2019 and have been doing photography in the city. Sometimes I play football with my friends. I want to work in a football club, preferably a top club like Chelsea, Tottenham, or Arsenal. Unfortunately, I don’t have a job right now, but I would like to find a job in London.

In the future I hope to return to my true passion of sports photography and journalism. In my home country of Iran this was my profession and I hope one day to be able to do this in my new adopted country. One day I could be photographing Middlesbrough lifting the Premier League trophy! 

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?

The photographs were taken in Middlesbrough during a tournament in Refugee Week called the Justice First Football Tournament. They mainly feature my teammates who played on that day and children who were there to watch. 

It was such a lovely day and there were so many different people there. I wanted the photographs to reflect how good a mood I was in and how happy I was to be there. There were lots of teams there with people from all over the world, so I wanted to try and get that across in the photographs.

Can you tell us the personal story of anyone else in the photographs?

There is a fellow Iranian guy who came to the country as a refugee. On getting his status in the country he was moved from Middlesbrough, the town he regarded as home, to the south. He is now back in Middlesbrough where he has lots of friends and is studying at the University of Teesside. He still plays in the football sessions on a regular basis and is a great player!

What is your favourite photo?

My favourite photograph is of the little girl watching the football. I think it shows her passion for football. She is in such an awkward position holding herself up against the metal fence but is just excited and wants to watch the football no matter what. 

Why is football important to you? 

Football is important to me as it is a way of bringing people together and sharing a common love for the game. It also helps in life because it can make you feel lots of different emotions. From the thrill of winning a match, scoring a goal or saving a penalty, to the disappointment of losing or the pain of getting injured.

What role does football play in your life at the moment?

Football played a big role in my life as I got accustomed to my new surroundings of the UK and Middlesbrough in particular. I played each week with MFC Foundation and it helped me to meet new people, learn about my new surroundings and improve my English! The football club really made me feel welcome and part of the community. 

Everyone in Middlesbrough supports their local team. It is the most important thing in their lives, so having an interest in football really helps settling in. I lived a short way from the stadium and on Saturdays could hear the noise from the stadium - the singing and cheering and all of the people walking by my house on the way to the match. They are so colourful and noisy, especially when Middlesbrough win. I have been lucky enough to watch them a few times and I was trying to learn the songs. I can honestly say now that Middlesbrough FC is my favourite football club!

Do you play football now with any British people? How do you find the British people?

There was a real mixture of people in our weekly football sessions of different races and religions. In any one session there would be people from Africa, Iran, Syria and obviously England. The English people I met have all been very nice and welcoming to me, they are keen to hear about my country and how I came to live in Middlesbrough. It really helped me in a time of my life which was quite tough at times.