Footballer visits children with speech differences

Wolverhampton Wanderers footballer Joao Gomes visited a school last week to support a scheme for children with speech & language needs.

The Brazilian midfielder Joao Gomes, who has been open about his experiences of stammering, has given his support to the new initiative 'Wolf Words'.

Set up by Wolves Foundation, a charity funded by the Premier League and PFA Players. Fund, Wolf Words is offering school children with speech & language differences in Wolverhampton mentoring and confidence-building activities.

Last week, Joao visited Warstones Primary School to meet nine of its students who are being supported by the scheme (watch the video above). Explaining more about it, schools officer with Wolves Foundation Tom Varty said, "Wolf Words is a targeted programme which uses mentoring and carefully planned activities to help children grow in confidence, feel listened to and build positive relationships".

Joao told wolves.co.uk, "This is so special and you can really see the impact the project is having." He added: "I want to give back to Wolverhampton for everything that the city has given to me, and this is something that I really believe in."

According to wolves.co.uk, Assistant Headteacher at Warstones school, Mrs Bayliss, said, "We were delighted to welcome Joao to Warstones and it was such an amazing session with Tom and the Foundation. For the pupils to then get the chance to meet Joao — who was so brilliant in the way he communicated with them — was such a memorable experience and genuinely brought a tear to my eye."

In 2023, when asked by The Athletic if he had any words of advice for any young supporters who stammer, Joao said: "I would tell them to have courage. I would tell the parents to give them the time they need to express themself in the best way possible. That's what I had in my home: a mum who listened, a grandad who listened, a dad and a brother who listened. That makes all the difference."

Read about other footballers who stammer: Ken Sema and Luke Ayling.

See our page Influential People Who Stammer for a list of sportspeople, musicians, writers, film stars and more.