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“We Are The Champions”!
National Football Museum and UCLAN host Premier Adult Disability Festival
On 26th June, the National Football Museum (NFM) with UCLAN sponsored the second National Football for All festival for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. Colleges from across the country sent players to represent some of the UK ‘s leading Football in the Community sides - Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds United, Norwich City, Ipswich Town, Hereford and Kidderminster Harriers. The tournament marked another exciting development for the FA's Kickoff@Fe disability initiative.
Following Trevor Brooking's launch of this major college sport scheme at Chelsea's new training complex in March 2007 (photograph attached), this festival provided the first opportunity for 11 a-side and 5 a-side teams from across the country to compete for the prestigious “Football for All” Trophy and Plate, sponsored by NFM. The 11a-side Trophy was won by Norwich City (see below) and the 5 a-side Plate by Kidderminster Harriers.
Ashley Jordan-Diaper, founder of the Kickoff@Fe and Chelsea Disabled Community coach said
“The NFM festival has created a terrific opportunity for talented young footballers often forgotten or lost within the game, to compete to the very highest of standards within the disability game. There has been a massive surge of interest in this year's tournament from the college community and it shows that the Football for All trophy is now recognised as one of the leading 11 aside competitions for LDD players within post 16 education.”
