02 March 2024 , 11:05
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England’s amazing amputee football squad were Nations League champions last year and should be in with a shot of winning the Euros this summer.
But because the England Amputee Football Association is a charity and is not funded from the Football Association, they need to raise £30,000 before they can take part. Head coach Scott Rogers is determined to ensure that England is one of the 16 countries competing at the 3rd European Amputee Football Championships from May 31 to June 9 in Haute-Savoie, France.
Recalling how the squad won their Nations League division in Poland in June, he says: “They all have such talent. It was the first major trophy won by the England Amputees in over 30 years. “These lads never thought they would play football again, let alone win.” They were also runners-up on goal difference to hosts Poland in the Amp Futbol Cup in Warsaw in September.
Spotted by talent scouts while playing locally, most of the players – who have launched a GoFundMe page asking for support – are studying or have jobs. But football means everything to them. Their coach adds: “They are all such brave lads who want to play for their country, and they need people’s support to do so.”
Each player has overcome massive challenges. They include winger Rhyce Ramsden, 23, of Bolton, an upholsterer, who lost his right leg aged five months because of cancer. Striker Terence John Yates, 32, known as TJ, had received offers from two professional football clubs before losing his left leg after a rollercoaster accident.
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The team could reach the final of the Euros (PR HANDOUT)TJ, who has two sons aged 9 and 11, says: “Everyone dreams of playing for their country. Now I get to live that dream and be a role model to my two children – showing them anything is possible when you put your mind to it.” Based in Portsmouth with his partner Bianca, his stepdaughter, four, and stepson, seven, TJ recalls attending a funfair with two friends in 2005.
He says: “The safety bar didn’t lock properly on my rollercoaster carriage. It set off and went around once, then for a second time. When it climbed to the top again, I told my friends I didn’t feel safe and wanted to get out. I climbed out, but the slats were rotten. I fell through.
“It set off again, but I was still holding on to the carriage and was dangling down, hitting every pole with my knee, before falling 15ft.It seemed surreal. All I could think of was that I’d bought a new pair of trainers that day and they’d come off.” Doctors did their best with his shattered leg but, 10 days after the accident, he opted for surgery.
He says: “I wanted my leg amputated, so that I could get on with my life. Two days later I had the amputation. It was devastating. Two weeks before the accident I’d had trials for Southampton and Portsmouth. Both had offered to sign me. I thought my football career was over.”
TJ adds: “I didn’t discover amputee football until eight years later. At the first training session, I knew instantly it was what I wanted to do.” Striker Liam Burbridge, 31, a care worker of St Helens, Merseyside, lost his left leg aged 20, after having a head on collision on his motorbike.
In hospital with a broken left wrist, left leg and ankle, he’d also torn his spleen which was leaking blood into his abdomen. He says: “It was touch and go. A consultant took one look at me and said ‘this boy looks like he’s going to die’.” A scan and emergency surgery followed, but Liam developed compartment syndrome in his leg, cutting off the blood supply.
In intensive care for two weeks, his girlfriend was pregnant with their daughter, Layla, now 11. Also dad to Liam, nine, and stepdad to Declan, 14, he now has a prosthetic, saying: “I feel so lucky to have survived.” A keen footballer before his accident, he was delighted to find a way to play on.
He says: “All the things I dreamed of as a boy, like representing my country at football, I thought were over. I want other amputees to know that amputee football is out there.” Winger Jamie Tregaskiss, 29, a British Gas worker, of Manchester, lost his left leg to bone cancer aged 13. He says: “Playing for England is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Midfielder Harry Ash, 24, a student from Gloucestershire, lost his left leg in 2013 – a week before turning 14 – due to a cancer called osteosarcoma. He says: “The year before, I watched the Paralympics, which made me determined to carry on with sport.”
Goalkeeper Thomas Atkinson, 20, from Carlisle, who was born with only a left hand and a left leg is a community coach at Carlisle United. He says: “These players have never done anything but impress.”
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- To help the team get to the Euros, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-england-amputee-football-achieve-euro24-dream