There are stories in football that have nothing to do with league tables or transfer fees, and everything to do with what the game can quietly, stubbornly do for a person when everything else has fallen away. Sarah Rhind's story is one of those.

The 42-year-old goalkeeper — who plays for Bishopton Ladies and coordinates sessions for the Street Soccer charity in Scotland — has just published her autobiography, Scars Under The Jersey. Speaking in Glasgow following its release, Rhind is unequivocal about what the game has meant to her survival. "I can wholeheartedly say that without it I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in now – if I was even lucky enough to still be here," she says. "There's been different times in my life where football showed up and was really a platform that saved me."

The book is an unflinching account of Rhind's battle with heroin addiction, the darkest corners it led her into, and the long, grinding work of recovery. It is also, in a way that sneaks up on you, a football story. Rhind earned promotion to the Scottish top flight with Hamilton Academical in 2021, a remarkable achievement that sits alongside everything else her life has contained.

Tuesday sessions as a lifeline

What makes Rhind's connection to Street Soccer particularly striking is that, before she became one of its coordinators, she was one of its participants. The charity runs free sessions aimed at people who are at-risk or socially disadvantaged, and in her early recovery it became a fixture she clung to.

"There were times when I wanted to use, but I had Street Soccer on Tuesdays," she explains. "There were times where I'd come through a really rough weekend, struggling with thoughts of using and relapsing but hadn't done it. There were many times where the reason was literally: 'If I use, I can't go to football on Tuesday.'"

It sounds almost too simple, that a weekly kickabout could hold the line against something as consuming as addiction. But Rhind explains why it works in a way that anyone who has ever laced up a pair of boots and lost themselves for ninety minutes will recognise.

"My mind is 24/7 from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep at night; it's 20 tabs open and they're all about different things," she says. "But when I was on the pitch and playing football the focus was just on that. I get my boots on and step on to the pitch and I find it is the only place that I am able to leave the mental noise. It picks right back up as soon as I leave the pitch, but it is amazing to just have a space, a bit of respite."

Belonging, purpose and self-worth

Rhind represented Scotland at the Homeless World Cup in 2015, another chapter in a life that has covered extraordinary ground. The book also addresses the lack of support she received for her undiagnosed dyslexia, the weight of grief, and self-harm as a coping mechanism — territory she navigates with the same candour that runs through everything she shares about her addiction.

The thread connecting it all is what football gave her: a sense of belonging, a role, a reason to show up. "Just being part of it, having that sense of belonging, having a role and a purpose and knowing your team needs you — that gives you so much self-worth," she says.

Now she passes that on. As a coordinator, she watches for the small shifts in the people she works with — the first moment of eye contact, someone walking a little taller, a goal celebrated by both sides.

"You see them start to believe in themselves for the first time," she says. "That's the biggest reward in my job."

She is also particularly focused on women of her own generation, who she feels have missed out compared with the girls growing up with a thriving women's game around them. The barriers — fitness, age, the sense of not belonging — are ones she is determined to dismantle, one Tuesday session at a time.

Scars Under The Jersey by Sarah Rhind is available now.

Frequently asked

Who is Sarah Rhind and what is her book about?
Sarah Rhind is a 42-year-old goalkeeper for Bishopton Ladies and a coordinator for the Street Soccer charity in Scotland. Her autobiography, Scars Under The Jersey, details her battle with heroin addiction, her recovery, and the central role football played in keeping her alive.
What is the Street Soccer charity and how does it help people?
Street Soccer is a Scottish charity that runs free football sessions for at-risk and socially disadvantaged people. It uses football as a platform to provide support networks, build self-worth, and give participants a sense of belonging and purpose during difficult periods in their lives.
Did Sarah Rhind play at a high level of women's football in Scotland?
Yes. Sarah Rhind earned promotion to the Scottish top flight with Hamilton Academical in 2021, and also represented Scotland at the Homeless World Cup in 2015.