Kieran Egan, 23, who turned his back on football hooliganism was once also homeless, but he got back on track after signing up to The Prince’s Trust Team Programme; a personal development course for young people.

He is now an inspirational speaker, also studying to become a sports coach.

Kieran, a Coventry city fan, before he enrolled in the Achievers programme he would spend each weekend drinking, taking drugs and getting into fights in the stands, after games he would wait for opposition fans coming out and get involved in fights, he said “I moved out of home when I was 16 and got mixed up with the wrong crowd, taking drugs and fighting at matches.

I’d have had seven or eight points on a match day. There was one time when it was more serious, that was after I ran across the football pitch when I was 17, I was put in the holding cells at the ground and then arrested by the police and given a warning. That happened around four or five times.”

His determination to choose a different path in life has seen him rise, but Kieran never had the intention of winning awards, rather he just wanted something to occupy himself.

He has learnt not to be defined by his past and has the motivation to keep succeeding, he says “All the hard work I have put in, when I have had people saying ‘oh it won’t last long’ you’ll go back to the old you, I have shown them ‘well no’… I’m going to keep going and to be recognized for it, it just gives me more motivation to keep going and keep succeeding.”

The aspiring football coach who turned his back on hooliganism won a national award in March 2019, The awards are about recognizing young people who have succeeded against the odds