From Abidjan's Streets to English League Football

Richard Kone grew up in Abidjan, in Côte d'Ivoire, and has played football since he was a child. He has said that football helped him become a bigger person. When he was 16, he told his parents that he is gay, and the relationship with his family broke down. He later explained that he was living on the street because of the problems with his parents.

He described homelessness in Côte d'Ivoire as terribly hard. Some people, he said, ignore those who ask for help, and others beat them. A friend introduced him to the president of the Don't Forget Them Association, a street football group, who told him that regular training and hard work could win him a place in its programme and perhaps a spot at the Homeless World Cup.

That path led him to Cardiff in 2019. The Ivorian team arrived five days into the tournament after visa problems, a delayed delivery and a missed flight, and then scored 16 goals in its first game. For Kone, the trip meant his first flight and his first time abroad. He said he had made up with his mother just before leaving, and he hoped to go back to school, perhaps to become a lawyer or a doctor.

He stayed on in England. He joined Athletic Newham, a club at the sixth level of the English game, and scored regularly as it won promotion. After a trial he moved to Wycombe Wanderers in January, scored on his debut in the EFL Trophy, and started in the final at Wembley, which Wycombe lost in extra time against Peterborough United. At 20 he was described as only the second openly gay player in men's professional football in England. His manager, Matt Bloomfield, said his story showed that with hard work anything is possible.