A STEVENSTON woman who has battled alcohol addiction is on top of the world after steering her country to success on the footballing stage.

Shop assistant Gemma Gilfillan, 25,was goalkeeper of the Scotland women’s team who competed in the recent Homeless World Cup in Oslo, Norway.

The Scots won five and lost just two of their games and lifted the Fretex Plate, defeating the Netherlands 5-4 in a high-scoring final. Scotland has a proud history in this tournament, winning the championship twice and hosting the event in Glasgow last year.

Gemma, who has been playing the Beautiful Game as long as she can remember took part after missing last year’s event in Glasgow.

She said: “I was supposed to be the goalkeeper last year but I decided to go to Africa instead for Raleigh international. We went on a 250km trek around Iringa, then on stage two built toilets for girls in schools and taught them to wash their hands and taught them hygiene in there classrooms.

"The last stage was NRM rainforest management and we helped make 40,000 trees for the tree nursery so in 10 years’ time they can cut them down and get some money for them. And we made rocket stoves to cut down the amount of fire wood they use.”

The goalie was delighted with the national team’s success and said: “We played well and it was good to pick up a trophy, It was great to have an opportunity to meet Sir Alex Ferguson before we left for the tournament.”

Gemma told tournament organisers Street Soccer she was never the most confident or outgoing person, so from just drinking socially to give herself some courage in social situations, she soon found herself dealing with a three-year long addiction to alcohol.

After trying to detox twice before, Gemma found that she would always turn back to alcohol when challenges presented themselves in her life. She has been coming to Street Soccer Scotland for nearly two years when her world was devastated by the death of her mum.

Diagnosed with a mass tumour in early January, she had sadly passed away just 22 days later. Again Gemma found sanctuary in alcohol but something changed inside her and she decided this wasn’t going to be her life.

Attending a day treatment centre while still coming to Monday night football with Street Soccer Scotland allowed her to gain control of her life again.

Speaking about this, Gemma, said: “Street Soccer Scotland staff are always there to chat to and you can talk to them about anything, It’s not always about football. I actually think they are amazing and fantastic in every way.

“Trialling out for the Homeless World Cup is one of the most nerve wracking things I have ever done. At the start I was still quite unstable but throughout the trials I also completed my treatment meaning my mental health as well as my physical health was getting better.”