By Monise Durrani Producer "Playing for Scotland"

The community has flourished in the shadow of tower blocks

On one of Glasgow's rare sunny days, tower blocks loomed grey against a blue sky. On the ground below, a couple of people kicked a ball around.

Within minutes, two teams formed. The players could be Glaswegian, Iraqi, Nigerian, Albanian - there are over 50 different nationalities in the city's Sighthill estate.

They might not speak the same language, but on this makeshift football pitch, they communicated with their feet.

Football has proved a great tool in helping asylum seekers and refugees to integrate.

For Prendush Lleshi it was a lifeline.

He arrived in Glasgow in 2001, fleeing death threats in Albania.

For two years, he struggled with depression, feeling he'd failed his young family.

His love of football helped him settle in.

He started coaching kids' teams and now has two youth qualifications.

"People here are passionate about football," he said.

"If you are a good footballer, to them it means you're a good person."

Things have not always been so rosy.

'Misinformation'

In 2000, when 5,000 asylum seekers arrived under the Home Office's dispersal programme, there was hostility and anger.

The locals had not been prepared for the influx.

Community activist Margaret Thomson said: "On a daily basis, you saw more people arriving.

"You knew they were strangers because they looked out of place.

"You saw the fear in their eyes.

"And there seemed to be thousands of them."

Mohammad Asif, an Afghani refugee, said: "You don't really blame the people - they were given the wrong information."

When violence erupted in 2001, after a Turkish asylum seeker was murdered, both asylum seekers and locals realised something had to be done.

Mohammad said: "We explained to the local community that we are not here to steal your jobs, we are here for a genuine reason, being persecuted in our own countries.

"It was the ordinary Scottish people coming together and working together that has made the community a better place for everyone."

Changing landscape

Sighthill may still be deprived but today it's a lot more welcoming.

Football has united asylum seekers from around the world

There is a political welcome as well.

The issues surrounding asylum in Scotland differ from those south of the border. Scotland's population is falling.

Part of Glasgow's motivation for taking part in the dispersal programme was the hope that refugees would boost the city's declining workforce.

Recently, the treatment of asylum seeker families has become a hotly debated topic within the Scottish Parliament.

Scotland has no say in which asylum seekers stay or go - that remains a Home Office matter.

In spite, or perhaps because of this, the arguments look set to run and run.

As the political debate continues Scotland's refugees keep playing football and living their lives.

Now Glasgow is their home.

Prendush said: "When I came to Sighthill, I thought I can't really stay forever.

"But I am still there. Things have changed."