Some of the best Powerchair Football players in the country – if not the world – will drive onto the St. George’s Park Futsal court and battle for the Wheelchair Football Association (WFA) Cup this weekend.
The competition is part of the FA Disability Cup played at the national football centre on Saturday 29 June and Sunday 30 June, with six para football finals across the two days.
Defending their WFA Cup title will be Aspire Powerchair Football Club, captained and managed by England skipper, Jon Bolding.
Aspire were integral to the growth of the sport in the UK and won the first-ever WFA Cup in the 2009-10 season. They have gone on to become the most decorated club in the country, winning the treble last season and lifting seven of the 13 WFA Cups available.
Aspire claimed the WFA Cup last year, following Northern Thunder and West Bromwich Albion victories in the previous two, and the latter will be hoping to regain a third crown in six years when the teams face each other on Sunday morning.
Emphasising the talent on display, both teams will be managed by an England star with goalkeeper Chris Gordon taking the reins of West Brom.
Bolding said: “For us, the cup is the pinnacle of our season … getting to the cup final and being able to showcase our sport to individuals who may not know about it is huge”.
Aspire have an incredibly strong team consisting of multiple international players who have been part of the team's huge success.
Winger Rosie Dack paid particular homage to ‘reliable’ goalkeeper Tom Kelly, who has kept the most clean sheets in the league this season.
Outfield, the team have 15-year-old Dan McLellan who – like Bolding and Gordon - already has a Powerchair World Cup runners-up medal from last year.
Bolding explains McLellan ‘can already do stuff that I wouldn’t have ever been able to do at his age’.
West Brom will also be travelling with an abundance of international talent including new signing Valentino Zegarelli, who transferred over from Argentina after impressing in the recent World Cup.
Zegarelli has already made his mark on English Powerchair Football after scoring a hat-trick on his debut weekend at the National League.
The Baggies also have versatile player, Dylan Kelsall, available for selection in what would be his first cup final appearance.
The 21 year old said: “It should be fun, this is the first time I’ll be on TV playing the sport so that’s great.
“I hope it is not a cagey match [due to it being televised] as I want a good game to be seen rather than a boring 0-0 that goes down to penalties.”
He continued: “We have strong team belief, that’s where we struggled last year… I feel like more people are really throwing themselves into everything this year, which is partly because we didn’t win anything we wanted to last year.”
The last game between the two finalists was a nail-biting occasion, with West Brom, who were down to three men, producing a phenomenal comeback to draw 2-2.
Reflecting on the match, Bolding acknowledged they “didn’t manage the game well at all, and in the end, this lost us the game.”
But when it comes to finals, Dack explained how the team are “consistently cool, calm and collected.”
Both teams only secured their spot in the final at St. George’s Park by a narrow margin.
After having a successful group and knockout stage, Aspire beat Hull and East Yorkshire Powerchair Football Club by 10-0 in their quarter-final before edging past Teesside 1-0 in the semis.
West Brom too had a strong journey to the final, cruising into the semi-finals after beating Muscle Warriors 12-0, before coming up against sister club West Bromwich Albion Throstles and coming out as 1-0 victors.
As they have played each other on numerous occasions, the two finalists have become familiar with each other’s style of play.
Kelsall said: “We can expect how Aspire will play, but it’s a cup and no one knows what’s going to happen, so we’ve got to go there and try our best, making sure the execution is perfect and hopefully we can beat Aspire.”
The WFA Cup final is huge for the Powerchair Football community as it is the only game which is broadcasted live on TNT Sport, exposing it to a much wider and new audience.
Bolding said: “What the FA have done along with TNT Sports has shone a light on a sport that not many people knew existed and now that people know the sport exists because of cup final days, it is incredible.
“Both teams will play expansive and attractive football…and it will be great for people to see goals and good technical ability as the two best teams face each other.”
