The In Bruges star is an ambassador for this year's (15) event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, which features teams made up of players who have lived on the streets during the last year.

Many of the competitors have battled drug and alcohol problems in the past, and Farrell bonded with the players while attending a game on Saturday (12Sep15) by opening up about his own troubles.

Scotland captain Jodie MCKewan tells Britain's Daily Record newspaper, "I said to Colin, 'I heard you were in recovery' and he was really open and honest with me. He said, 'I have been in recovery for about 10 years. What about yourself?' I told him I was 13 months clean and sober. I explained a bit about myself and he just gave me some inspiring words."

In a video posted on the tournament's website, Farrell says, "The best a homeless person on any given day can expect from society a lot of the time is pity and so the Homeless World Cup is not about pity, it's not about shame, it's not about your head being down, it's about your head being up and it's about no apologies and it's about competition. It's about coming together at the end of the day, as much as competition can be about separation it's about coming together through competition."

The event runs from 12 to 19 September (15).