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Amputee Football is alive and kicking!

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Amputee Football is alive and kicking! Ebrima Susso, who you may remember from previous posts, has made me aware of the Chelsea Football Club Amputees.

Ebrima, an upper limb amputee himself, is a committed long term supporter of Chelsea Football Club. Living in The Gambia, he hasn’t seen his club play live, though this is one of his dearest wishes. He is a very talented player who sadly gave up the game he loved after he lost his arm above the elbow in a riding accident. Through personal fundraising, thanks to private supporters and the efforts of Charley Bickers and his bold team of Kayakers who rowed a stretch of the Wye to raise funds, we were able to raise enough money to buy a prosthetic arm for Ebrima. The additional confidence this gave him meant that he felt able to start playing football again with his friends and do many other things that previously he had been avoiding. He is hoping to become involved with his local amputee football team and was understandably delighted to discover that Chelsea already support amputee players and also have a group for players with other disabilities. It would be amazing if he was able to be associated with them in some way.

Amputee Football is alive and kicking
Image taken from the England Amputee Football Association Facebook Page

Thanks to Ebrima’s nudge, I have been looking more closely into amputee football and find that actually there are a lot of opportunities and several clubs that host teams. However, there’s no doubt that with top names like Chelsea fielding amputee teams, the word – and hopefully the amputee game – will spread even further.

Amputee Football is alive and kicking!
Image taken from the FA Website where you will find much information about the amputee game

Amputee Football is alive and kicking for sure! I’m very grateful to Ebrima for prompting this research. I  hope that those of you like me, were somewhat in the dark about the opportunities in football for amputees and people living with other disabilities and who, unlike me, would like to play(!) will find some useful links amongst those I’ve posted below.

Please do share any other links you know about.

Here is a video demonstrating a few things that Amputee Footballers are capable of. I’m in awe!

Links: (will open in new tabs)