Neville also admitted that seeing firsthand the work done by The FA and clubs to ensure that a disability is not a barrier to playing and the game had "opened his eyes".

The Everton and England player was at a disability football event organised by The FA and Everton at the club's training ground, which featured training sessions involving blind and partially-sighted players and adults and children with cerebral palsy and learning difficulties.

Neville said: "Today has really opened my eyes to the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved in disability football. They love and enjoy their football just as much as I do.

"It's really inspirational and shows that there is a route for children and adults to play the game to whatever level they can. The door is not closed.

"There's been a lot of work done by The FA and clubs like Everton to make sure that there are lots of opportunities for disabled people to get involved and get good quality coaching. I'm proud that England is leading the way."

Capped 56 times by England, Neville is well aware of the importance of player pathways for the most talented individuals.

"Representing your country is the biggest honour any players can achieve and that goes for disabled players as well. It's fantastic that there are structures in places to identify the best players, make them better and give them the chance of pulling on an England shirt."

The FA runs six England disability teams - Blind, Partial Sighted, Amputee, Cerebral Palsy, Deaf and Women's Deaf Futsal - which compete in European and World competitions.

Steve Johnson is Everton Disability coordinator and captain of England's amputee team: "I always played a lot of football and when I lost my leg after an accident during a game when I was 21 I was determined to stay involved. I went to university, did a sport science degree and then got involved in disability sport."

Johnson joined Everton's community scheme three and a half years ago and has seen the club develop the biggest disability programme in the country.

"We go out to over 50 schools in the Merseyside area that have pupils with various disabilities, to provide coaching and playing opportunities.

"Thousands of children are involved in the scheme. We also have nine teams, either pan-disability or disability-specific and over 25 Everton players have represented England across the various national teams."

With the number of players growing and growing, disability football is a true English success story.

Did you know?

  • The FA launched the first strategy for disability football in January 2003.
  • Plan was to increase playing opportunities, improve quality of coaching, establish a regional competitive structure, create performance pathways and raise profile of disabled football.
  • Around £1m has been invested by FA in disability football between since 2003. Many County FA's now have a Disability Football Development Officer to run Level 1 courses for coaching players with disabilities and link clubs to schools.
  • There are now over 50 FA Ability Counts clubs around the country (such as Everton) which provide pan-disability football opportunities, linked to County FA's, from the grassroots through to regional leagues, which feed into England teams. This player pathway is a key motivating factor for disabled players.
  • The FA fund six England teams: Blind, Partial Sighted, Amputee, Cerebral Palsy, Deaf and Women's Deaf Futsal teams which compete in European and World comps.
  • The Blind and Cerebral Palsy teams will hope to compete in Beijing Paralympics in 2008 as GB, as other home nations don't have same disability football infrastructure.
  • The FA Disability programme been commended by both UEFA and FIFA as world leaders. The FA are the only National Governing Body that directly funds national teams - other countries rely on lottery, etc.
  • According to the last government survey, in 2005, 6.9m people in UK of working age were registered disabled, of whom only 17 per cent were born with their disability. It is estimated that nearly 9 million people in UK have a hearing impairment.