skip to main content
TheFA.com
  • Print
  • Read Speaker

Disability Football

Prior to 1999 The Football Association’s support for the development of disability football was limited. At this time there was a plethora of organisations that represented disabled people and The FA found it difficult to produce a coherent all-embracing strategy for disabled football.

The creation of the English Federation of Disability Sports (EFDS), the umbrella organisation for the seven National Disability Sports organisations, in 1998 and the establishment by The FA of the Football Development department a year later, led to the development of the first national disability football programme (Ability Counts, which was launched in 1999). This was seen as the initial step in helping to identify and develop talented footballers, providing quality coaching and increasing participation in the disability game.

In 2001, after a period of extensive consultation with its stakeholders and in response to the various Government policy documents, The FA produced its Football Development Strategy (providing a strategic framework for football development in England for 2001-2006). The Football Development Strategy’s key objective was to increase participation, quality and enjoyment of football using four key strands.

One of these was entitled ‘Opportunities For All’ which committed The FA to ensure that everybody had the opportunity to play, coach, manage, referee and be spectators regardless of their race, culture, religion, gender, ability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or social status. Complimenting this, the first FA Football Development Programme – Disability Football Strategy (2004–2006) was the first step in integrating disability football into the ‘mainstream’.

The development of a clear strategy to ensure the further development of disability football is one of The FA’s strategic imperatives. This is embedded in both The FA Strategic Vision and the National Game Strategy (both covering 2008-2012). As a result, The FA’s Disability Football Strategy 2010-12 has been developed.

Click here to download The FA's Disability Football Strategy 2010-12

The Disability Strategy cannot be achieved successfully without the support of our partners and major stakeholders and has therefore been developed in consultation with them. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics will provide a unique opportunity to enthuse people to take part in sport. The FA and the whole of the sporting family must be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that hosting these two globally important events will present and be prepared to meet the challenges that the huge potential increase in participation that they will produce which will logically follow.

County Disability Leagues

The delivery of Sport England’s Disability Club and Coach Project between seasons 2008-09 and 2010-11 represented significant additional investment into disability football at a local level.

The existing ‘pan disability’ regional leagues have either been reformed or are complemented by entirely new structures and represent a switch in emphasis from regional to county based provision. In season 2011-12 there will be 34 established County Leagues within England offering regular competitive opportunities for in the region of 700 affiliated teams. These leagues form the foundation of the disability player pathway and provide the environment in which players can participate on a regular basis. Through these structures, aspirations identified in the National Game Strategy can be realised (participating clubs provide an exit route for players making a transition from education based provision to community settings, talented individuals are signposted to performance environments and the volunteer workforce is developed to sustain and grow current and future activity).

In many cases, these County-based leagues have been established and supported by County FAs which deliver in partnership with a range of organisations to ensure that provision is both standardised and sustained.

Key information about County Disability Leagues

  • County Leagues develop provision for five key groups of players playing ‘pan disability’ football (adult male, adult female, U16 males, U16 females and U13 mixed)
  • County Leagues adopt the principle of ‘ability banding’ where there are enough participating teams and clear differences in the ability level of players
  • County Leagues adopt a 5v5 or 7v7 format
  • County Leagues deliver a programme of central venue fixtures between September and May annually. A minimum of six central venue fixture days per season are provided for each of the five playing groups
  • County Leagues ‘sign post’ players that have the ability to participate in mainstream activity to the appropriate playing opportunities. Leagues focus their efforts on providing opportunities for players whose ‘disability’ prevents them from achieving their potential in mainstream football
  • County Leagues also co-ordinate ‘impairment specific’ divisions e.g. wheelchair football or mental health divisions.

As mentioned above, ability banded competition has been established within regional and County league structures (‘Premier League’ competitions are often delivered on a regional basis with ‘Championship’ and ‘League’ divisions being delivered locally via County-based leagues).

Premier League level - players participating at this level are able to cope physically, have good levels of spatial awareness, excellent ability to understand tactics and good levels of physical strength and fitness.
Championship level - players participating at this level are mobile, have spatial and tactical awareness, knowledge of the Laws of the Game and have a good level of fitness.
League level - players participating at this level have limited mobility, spatial awareness and fitness.

Click here to download The FA’s Disability Information brochure 2011-12

FA Disability Talent Pathway

The purpose of The FA’s Disability Talent Programme is to identify young players deemed to possess higher levels of ability and to place them in a developmental programme designed to produce football excellence in conjunction with personal development. The Pathway comprises of FA Disability Player Development Centres (PDCs), FA Regional Impairment Specific Centres of Excellence and FA England Impairment Specific Development Squads.

The Pathway’s success is ultimately measured on the number of players progressing from County and Regional based programmes into National Development and Elite Disability Squads.

FA Disability Player Development Centres (PDC) provide a higher level coaching opportunity for players that show signs of talent in grassroots club or school settings. PDCs run for 1.5 hours per week for 20 weeks and impact players of 12-16 years of age. PDCs are used to ‘confirm’ and ‘develop’ talent in young players and support the transition to Regional Youth and Adult Impairment Specific Centres of Excellence, National Impairment Specific League Teams or into mainstream football settings.

PDCs have a focus on recruiting players that can progress to National Development and Elite Squads as highlighted within The FA’s Disability Player Pathway and as shown below:

  • Amputee
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Deaf
  • Partially sighted
  • Learning Disability.

The FA supports FA Regional Impairment Specific Centres of Excellence for Blind and Partially Sighted Players as well as players with Cerebral Palsy.

FA Blind Centres of Excellence have been developed utilising and building upon the existing Area/Regional Blind Teams. The aim of these Centres is to nurture, develop and provide regular, high quality and specialised training programmes for blind players. There is an U16 and Adult Programme in each Centre supported.

Existing Regional Cerebral Palsy (CP) Teams (16+) have evolved to provide The FA CP Centre of Excellence Programme in season 2011-12. Regional Centres have identified and recruited an U16 Squad to complement the existing adult squad providing a direct route for players into the England CP Development Squad.

FA Regional Partially Sighted Centres of Excellence (U16 focus) have been developed across the country. Centres are based at high quality Futsal facilities with supporting programmes focused on the development of elite level ‘Futsal Players’. This provision is linked to Futsal Clubs participating in the FA National Futsal League (desired exit route) and the National Partially Sighted League (additional exit route). A Fixture Programme is provided for these Centres.

At the pinnacle of The FA Disability Talent Pathway are the England Impairment Specific Development squads. Currently, these squads have a focus on developing players under the age of 23 and cater for blind, partially sighted players, players with cerebral palsy and players with a learning disability. Involvement in an England Development squad prepares selected players for full involvement in Elite Impairment Specific squads.

England and Great Britain Elite Impairment Specific squads

The FA supports the delivery of England Elite Impairment Specific squads for blind players, partially sighted players, players with cerebral palsy and female deaf players. These squads compete in European and World Competitions on a cyclical basis. The FA also takes responsibility for the Great Britain Disability Football Association which in turn supports the participation of Great Britain Blind and Cerebral Teams in Paralympic Games.

Click here for The FA’s Disability Player Pathway

Coach Development

The FA has worked to improve and build on the original Coaching Disabled Footballers (CDF) course (published in 2000) to ensure that the current course format reflects the changing needs of players and coaches. Disability Football is embedded in The Football Association’s National Game Strategy and as a result the expectations of disabled players have risen accordingly.

England’s disability teams sit high in the world rankings and an increasing number of disabled players want the opportunity to play at the highest levels. Good coaching at grassroots level and within the Talent Pathway is essential if players are to maximise their full potential. The CDF Course aims to provide coaches with tips and guidance on how to adapt, where necessary, to include disabled players with a disability in regular coaching sessions at your school or club.

In the context of The FA’s Long Term Development Model, attendance at a CDF Course will enable you to:

  • Apply and extend your existing coaching skills and experience to meet the needs of players with a range of impairments
  • Establish basic communication skills for coaching disabled footballers
  • Use appropriate terminology
  • Identify appropriate safety and medical considerations
  • Ensure that you are working in a safe and enjoyable environment and players are free from poor practice and abuse
  • Plan a wide range of coaching sessions for disabled players
  • Using the Inclusion Spectrum, plan your coaching sessions to include disabled players or provide alternative appropriate opportunities
  • Understand the player pathway available for disabled players including the appropriate structures for competition.

Please note that there are other impairment specific courses available to support the development of disabled players and complement the delivery of the CDF Course.

  • FA Coaching Deaf Footballers Course
  • FA Coaching Blind Footballers Course

Impairment Specific Provision

The importance of impairment specific provision relates to both the need to increase the number of players involved in appropriate formats of the game from different impairment groups but also to further enhance the player pathway and support the effective identification of talented players.

Although County and Regional Disability Leagues provide ‘pan’ disability provision it is important to acknowledge the need for these structures to be complemented by impairment specific leagues. As of season 2011-12 there will be seven impairment specific leagues nationally.

The FA National Cerebral Palsy Football League

The league is co-ordinated and delivered by a National League Committee in association with The Football Association. The league includes eight U16 and eight Adult Centre of Excellence or Regional Teams. Teams compete in north or south of England and national fixture datesas provided by The Football Association. Each team is co-ordinated by either a County Football Association or Professional Football Club with each organisation identifying and recruiting the most talented players from respective FA regions. The following organisations are instrumental to the delivery of regional teams and the national league:

  • Manchester FA (North West CP Centre of Excellence)
  • North Riding FA (North East and Yorkshire CP Centre of Excellence)
  • Birmingham FA (West Midlands CP Centre of Excellence)
  • Nottinghamshire FA (East Midlands CP Centre of Excellence)
  • Plymouth Argyle FC in association with Dorset FA (South West CP Team)
  • London FA (London CP Centre of Excellence)
  • Bedfordshire FA (East Regional CP Team – 16+ only)

For more information please contact Phil.Heap@TheFA.com

The FA National Blind Futsal League

The league is co-ordinated and delivered by a National League Committee in association with The Football Association. The FA has worked closely with County Football Associations, Professional Football Clubs and Universities to develop new and support existing Blind Futsal Teams via the FA Blind Centre of Excellence Programme. Teams compete in ‘central venue’ fixture dates on a monthly basis and consist of players aged 16 plus who are at differing stages of player development (new participants to England and Great Britain players). The following teams compete in the league:

  • FA West Midlands Blind Centre of Excellence (West Bromwich Albion FC)
  • FA London and South East Blind Centre of Excellence (Middlesex FA)
  • FA East Midlands Blind Centre of Excellence (Leicestershire and Rutland FA)
  • Royal National College for the Blind
  • University of Worcester.

For more information please contact Phil.Heap@TheFA.com

The National Amputee Football League

The league is co-ordinated and delivered by the English Amputee Football Association and was formed in 2003. The EAFA has continued to work to identify new players and delivers fixture dates (and development sessions) in conjunction with a number of partners and at different locations. Each game is played on a 4-a-side basis. To complement this delivery, The Football Association has encouraged County FAs to identify and recruit amputee footballers for the Disability Player Development Centre Programme. It is hoped that this will enable the future development of teams and further raise the profile of the game.

For more information please visit www.theeafa.co.uk

The English Deaf League Championship and Cup

A number of deaf football teams in England compete in mainstream leagues. However, English Deaf Football has developed a League Championship for male players with teams competing in up to six fixtures annually organised in North and South groups. It is notable to mention that this structure runs alongside the English Deaf Cup which is viewed by many as the major competition structure for deaf players and teams in England.

For more information please visit www.britishdeaffootball.com

Wheelchair Football League

The Wheelchair Football Association National League is delivered via three separate divisions (Premier League, Championship and League). Divisions operate a promotion and relegation system creating a highly competitive environment for participating teams. All fixtures are delivered at a ‘central venue’ and over six weekend events.

The Wheelchair Football Association (WFA) is also supporting the development of Regional ‘Powerchair’ Football Leagues. As the number of Clubs and Teams continue to grow, the WFA aims to offer a number of competitive playing opportunities. A number of the Regional Leagues have now been developed.

For more information please visit www.thewfa.org.uk

Visually Impaired Football League

The league provides competitive opportunities for visually impaired footballers over the age of 16. Participating teams represent player groups, academic institutions and professional football clubs. These teams cater for players within a spectrum of playing levels and experience. A number of participating players have achieved full international honours with The FA’s Partially Sighted Squad. The league is delivered under the ‘BBS VI Football League’ banner and receives support from The FA. Fixtures are delivered from October to April annually via series of tournaments held throughout the country. Teams play 5-a-side football adhering to adapted ‘Futsal’ Laws of the Game.

For more information please visit www.visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk