How disability can win England the World Cup.

The Football Association’s disability football programme looks beyond the traditional medical model of disability, and focuses on ability and what an individual (and team) can achieve through sport. There are numerous disability football centres across the country, with inclusive participation in a diverse range of adapted formats of football including: cerebral palsy football, hearing-impaired football, visually-impaired football, partially-sighted football, learning disability football, and wheelchair football. Playing these versions of the game results in regular sociable competitive exercise and numerous health and social benefits.1 People living with a disability are less physically active and therefore more unfit than the general population, with these low levels of fitness serving as a significant predictor of premature death and morbidity.2 Rates of inactivity are as high as 92% for …