Football clearly has a place at Glastonbury, but is it just a cosmetic collision or are there deeper connections? The Athletic navigated the World Cup final of music festivals and spoke to fans, artists and revellers to find out. It is often said that football is like a religion in Britain, inspiring passion, belief and devotion that most spiritual leaders could only dream of. The 30-year-old also supports Rotherham United and loves to see other Rotherham shirts because it is a piece of home in a place so big and so famous. People want to let others know: this is who I am, what I support and where I am from. Catherine Pepinster, a journalist specialising in religious affairs and an avid Brentford fan, said: “You’re not passive when you watch football, you’re not a bystander. You are a participant.” How much do you really know about the origin of your club? Would you like to read about it in fascinating detail?

Peter Lupson’s academic credentials have been put to excellent use in the intensive research undertaken to compile this unique volume. He is the author of a number of successful school and university French and German text books, as well as Across the Park: Everton FC and Liverpool Common Ground (Trinity Mirror Sport Media, 2009). He is honorary life president of a semi-professional club in North Wales and the founder of a thriving church youth league on Merseyside. He currently combines part-time English teaching with writing. Review

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Hi @GlastoFest I’ve got a favour to ask. My brother is there on Thursday, can you screen our quarter final game please? #Lionesses 🦁🦁🦁

It has given me this. This is the forefront of my focus but I will never take for granted what the Liverpool fans have given me. They have put me here. I have worked like a dog for 12 years, it hasn’t been an overnight thing. I have been on the terraces making friends and that is why these people supported me so much when I started out — because I am one of them.” Few people are aware that, of the 41 clubs that have played in the FA Premier League since its inception in the 1992-3 season, 12 can trace their origin directly to a church. However, many of these 12 famous football clubs know little about their origins or founders. But let us thank God for Rev Tiverton Preedy, founder of Barnsley St Peter’s Football Club, for John Ripsher, who ran a Bible Class at All Hallows Church, Tottenham and poured his life into the boys of the area and their football club or William Baker Pitt, curate of Christ Church, Swindon. Where would Barnsley FC, Tottenham Hotspur or Swindon Town be without them? He believes that “Christianity and football align perfectly” and “come together in a wonderful way” through his work. “I feel very fortunate and privileged,” he said. “My faith, my belief, my values underpin what I do.”Matt Baker has been chaplain at Charlton Athletic since 2000 and is national director for England at Sports Chaplaincy UK. While footballing has a reputation as a glamorous career path, players often struggle to cope with the transition to life in the spotlight, he said. The church and football complement each other really well,” he told the briefing, saying that he regularly discussed the sport with parishioners of all ages. He still plays and even captains the Archbishop of Canterbury’s football team, which in the coming weeks will compete against teams from The Times, the Vatican and the Swiss Guards.

I found that something like a quarter of all clubs that have played in English football over the past five years have a close connection with the church.” They get a safe space,” Alix Hughes, board member of the charity, says. “It is a youth club after school. They get support with their education and with football. The girls get training and coaching from age eight to 18. It gives them safety and a peer group of women supporting each other. It builds their confidence.”Her friends, who she is heading to meet, are all Middlesbrough supporters and have a flag with the club crest on. “It is an important part of people’s lives and the whole weekend I’ll be looking at people’s football shirts and looking at what season it is from.”