THE Scotland National Cerebral Palsy Football Team has climbed eight places in the world rankings following a successful World Championships campaign.
The team travelled to Sardinia where they beat hosts Italy 6-0, South Korea 7-0 and Chile 7-2 in the group stage. They then progressed to the semi-finals where they beat Japan 5-1 before falling just short in the final against Colombia, suffering a tight 3-2 loss.
Speaking to The National, team manager Greig Taylor said: “Six years ago we lost all our funding and the team was disbanded. We had two options at the time which was either let it happen or do something about it. We didn’t have any money but we stuck together and the boys wanted to keep fighting.
“We couldn’t buy kits or hire a pitch, but I managed to get some funding from a pal’s company and we managed to get some balls, some cones and started training.
“We’ve built and built and got good volunteers and raised the profile of the game as best we can.”
Prior to the final, the team received a message of support from the First Minister.
The tournament saw eight teams compete and Taylor said that it was a “massive achievement” to reach the final given where the club was six years ago.
Following on from their success, Scotland rose to 18 in the International Federation of CP Football world rankings.
“Obviously as we have developed and grown we’ve built a really strong side. Our goal was to get to the final and then see what happens”, he said.
CP football is played on a pitch which is 75m by 55m and has a seven-a-side format. The game is comprised of two 30-minute halves.
In order to make the game as fair as possible, Taylor explains players are placed into a category depending on how severely they suffer from CP their CP is. These are FT1, FT2 and FT3.
Taylor said: “At any time during a game, you must have an FT1 player on the pitch. If you’re not able to then you must go down to six players. You must have a maximum of one FT3 on the pitch at any time to try and keep it as fair as possible.
“You don’t want a team of FT3s playing against a team of FT1s. FT1 could be somebody whose illness impacts all four of their limbs.
“The classification system is a lot more in depth than that but in simple terms, if it’s more noticeable then you’re classed as an FT1.”
The team is hoping to develop further. Players will now get a month off before returning to training to prepare for next May’s European Championships.
They also have plans to develop further, and create a much clearer development path to the main team in order to encourage those living with CP to get involved.
Taylor added: “We are about to launch a brand-new player development centre which will let everyone with CP of all abilities play. We’ll have a participation group and they’ll be able to enjoy a safe and comfortable environment.
“We’re going to launch a development team filled with players who we think have the potential to go to the main squad, and they’ll hopefully play like-minded teams in England or Ireland to try and gain that international experience.
“What we’re really creating is a pathway for everyone in Scotland and to give them an opportunity to play football.
“Our plan is to launch a women’s team as well. The IFCPF have just launched a Women’s World Cup.”
Taylor knows the positive impact sport can have on people’s lives and says it’s important that accessibility continues to be a priority. Although he believes progress has been made in that regard, he and thinks that more can done.
Taylor said: “Football has to be for everybody. I know how important this team is to our players, how much it changes their lives for the better. It gives them a sense of inclusiveness and they feel like they’re part of something that’s important.
“It’s so important that we get enough funding to try and do this. I always think about what we have achieved without a huge amount.
“I can’t help but think of the possibilities if we had more to make ourselves stronger and better than what we already are.”
