A Liverpool mum was in tears when she opened her phone and read a message on WhatsApp.
Comfort Etim, 38, was kidnapped as a teenager and held against her will in the UK before going on to play football professionally for Tottenham Hotspur's women's team.
On a two-week holiday to Liverpool from London in 2008, an elderly woman saying 'You alright, love?' as she arrived in Lime Street Station made her feel welcome in the midst of depression after initially being refused asylum.
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That two-week trip is still going thirteen years later, and Comfort's son Ezekiel has since joined her.
Eager to return to her love, Comfort started a football team made up mostly of refugee and asylum seeker women travelling from as far as Birkenhead and Widnes.
Originally from Nigeria, where she played professionally, her own experience of the asylum system, and successfully coming out the other end, is the driving force behind the project.
Comfort's aim with the team is to "to empower them, to promote integration, to promote good health, and improve mental health" for women experiencing stress and anxiety in a "daunting" asylum system.
She told the ECHO: "A lot of women would be so down, and it's something that I went through myself.
"Having had that lived experience of the asylum system, I want a safe space where women can come and, even if it's just for that moment, forget about every other thing and just have fun."
Initially a 12-week pilot with Refugee Women Connect, the team had no football boots or jerseys, and were initially a player short, when they played in their first tournament two years ago.
But they eventually won a match.
Comfort said: "You could just see how passionate they were that they didn't give up from the beginning.
"We didn't have anything. I mean, we had nothing.
"That could have been discouraging to them, but they kept coming."
She added: "These women could be going through everything that they're going through with regards to their asylum cases, or whatever situation they are going through, and still be able to play football.
"It's what gives me the drive to carry on with the team.
"Even when it's snowing down and raining down, I go on the WhatsApp group and I'm like, 'Ladies, I'm going to have to cancel today, the weather is bad'.
"You will get a lot of thumbs down, 'No, we want to play'."
Supported by Liverpool County Football Association, LFC Foundation and Amnesty International, the Comfort Angels team won their first tournament, the She Inspires league, in November this year.
Comfort told the ECHO: "Every time we go, we get beaten. We're either last, or we're the second to the last, and now we're second position.
"In fact, the last one, oh my god, I literally cried. I couldn't make it."
She added: "There's always been this fear that, 'Oh my god, I couldn't leave them by themselves'.
"And to my greatest surprise, they went, they played, and they won."
Comfort was in tears when she saw the message on WhatsApp saying they'd won, followed up by an email from Liverpool County Football Association congratulating them.
She said it was "so beautiful" to receive that news.
The 38-year-old, who does advocacy, police and case work for Refugee Women Connect, told the ECHO: "I feel so excited. I feel fulfilled.
"I said to them, 'Now I can go into a different city and form another Comfort Angels knowing that you guys would be fine.
"So if I moved to Birmingham, now I can go knowing that you guys are prepared you're ready.
"I feel really fulfilled, I feel really happy, I feel encouraged, you know, I feel really, really encouraged to carry on.
"It's given me that hope to look forward to the future."
Comfort continued: "For me, it's just exciting that they're in love with football, and for three of them to indicate that they want to do the referee course, it's just the icing on the cake.
"I didn't expect that. I thought it was just going to be a football team where we just play and have fun.
"But they've taken the bull by its horns and they're going ahead and playing tournaments.
"What more can I ask for?"
