ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on what the Football Association (FA) calls disability football, which also includes vulnerable people who participate in the game. By this I mean any footballer who does not participate in mainstream or ‘regular’ football. The chapter begins by describing briefly the history of disability sport in general before investigating the development of disability football within the FA and relating this to plans for its growth in the wider footballing community. Next, data are presented from interviews conducted with thirty-six respondents involved in disability football, based at thirteen different clubs.1 The data include accounts of players and parents, together with commentaries from coaches, administrators and others within disability football. It is clear from these accounts that football for disabled people is an enjoyable and beneficial experience. Also evident are the pervading frustrations of both players and coaches trying to gain recognition for the footballer first and their dis/ability second.
