Everton amputee footballer expresses concern over future of sport
The England team were left to fundraise ÂŁ30,000 needed to get them to the Euros
Last updated 27th May 2024
An Everton amputee footballer who's representing England at the European Championships this summer says he's worried about the sport's future, if they continue to rely on fundraising.
The team, who are the Nations League Champions, have raised the ÂŁ30,000 needed to allow them to compete at the Euros, taking place in France. However, many supporters are questioning the need to fundraise in the first place.
Amputee football doesn't receive support from their FA like many other nations competing do. Instead, they rely on money sourced through fundraising and a team of skilled physiotherapists, nutritionists and coaches who work on a volunteer basis.
Liam Burbridge, Everton amputee footballer, says getting secure funding would have a huge impact:
"At the beginning of the year we found ourselves in a situation where, unfortunately, we didn't have the funding, and we weren't 100% sure whether we were going to be able to make it to these European Championships."
"We managed to raise our ÂŁ30,000...but that's not just the end of it. That's fine for these European Championships, but it's what happens afterwards."
"We're not supported by the FA, we're not funded by them. It's not a Paralympic sport, so we're not funded by Team GB. We're actually a registered charity, so everything we have we have to go out fundraising for. We rely on the good will of people sponsoring us and making donations"
Some teams, such as Turkey - the current European and world champions - are fully professional teams, funded by their FA.
"We have to try and bridge that gap between being almost elite amateurs competing with professionals."
"Although it would be nice to make money from playing football, the most important thing is that our program doesn't suffer.
"There's a lot of people out there that would be good at amputee football, that just don't know about it."
The team are just days away from competing in the European Championships, and Liam says he and the team are feeling confident.
"Coming back off the Nation's League, we find ourselves in a really good place on the pitch. It's something we've been working to for the past 18 months."
"The whole team of players, and the staff, we've put our everything into this."