Soccer: Cardinal Rio? Bishop Becks? Fr Stevie G? Monsignor Wayne? The titles don't quite slip off the tongue, and while we could be underestimating the spiritual side to the personalities of four of England's leading footballers, it's probably unlikely that Ferdinand, Beckham, Gerrard and Rooney will exchange their boots for dog collars when they retire from the game.

Father Paul Embery, though, sees several similarities between the lives and vocations of professional footballers and priests, and although he isn't specifically targeting the quartet in the Catholic Church's latest recruitment drive in England, he is hoping to attract young men for whom football is a religion - and for whom their team's leading scorer is God.

"The 'beautiful game' is not just a job, it becomes a whole way of life," said Fr Embery, director of the Catholic Church's National Office for Vocation. "It takes many years of training, dedication and perseverance to get to a professional standard.

"The support of your team is invaluable, and it's not just about a one-off public appearance at the weekend. We want young men to see that some of the motivating factors for footballers are just as applicable to the Catholic priesthood, and that being a priest is a very rewarding and satisfying vocation - and a lifelong one too."

A bit like Sunderland this season, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has suffered from declining attendances at their places of worship, and a bit like Sunderland next season, is struggling to recruit new blood.

That, then, is the motivation behind the Church's new recruitment campaign ("kicking off next weekend"): to attract men to the priesthood. Men, mark you. A bit like Manchester United, Chelsea and the rest, the Church can still find no room in its first-team line-up for women.

"During May and June over 5,000 posters will be put up in churches, schools and chaplaincies which feature a mirror image of a young man considering his future as a footballer or as a priest (or both!). The idea behind the poster is that certain qualities needed to be a good footballer are easily transferable to the Catholic priesthood," said Fr Embery, who doesn't earn £120,000 a week, drive a Hummer or go out with an actress from Emmerdale.

The crusade is a follow-up to last year's 'Get Collared for the Challenge of a Lifetime' beer-mat campaign - we kid you not - with this year's effort aiming "to tap into World Cup fever".

Rooney's on England's side, but is God?

Well, if divine intervention steers England to success in Germany this summer then Fr Embery might be pleasantly surprised by the number of indebted supporters who opt to make Pope Benedict XVI their new gaffer.