Foundation

England hopefuls

TALENTED young footballers flocked to The FA’s England Talent Day, hosted by The Albion Foundation.

24 young hopefuls were at Portway Lifestyle Centre to be put through their paces, with The FA and Foundation coaches watching on.

Open to boys and girls aged 7-16 with cerebral palsy, hearing impairments or visual impairments, the session was aimed at unearthing hidden talents.

The Foundation hosts one of 13 Talent Hubs in the country and the centres carry great value in identifying promising footballers with disabilities.

"It's massively important to hold this," said Paul Glover, The Albion Foundation's Head of Disability.

"It gives the players an idea of where their future lies and where the opportunities are for them that they wouldn't have known otherwise."

Gary Knight, The FA's National Talent Identification Lead for Disability Football, spent the morning casting his eye over the youngsters.

"They're a really great recruitment tool for our talent pathway, but also the wider grassroots programme," said Gary.

"We're looking for a particular type of player with potential but not everybody will meet that at this moment in time, so it really does have an impact on grassroots football as well.

"We hope to find a little gem or two that might go on to wear the Three Lions in the future.

"It's a really important part of our recruitment process, the players that are involved in the various hubs.

"It allows them to access quality coaching in a really good environment to help their development.

"We've seen plenty of good potential today, which is always good to see."

Spaces are still available to be a part of the Talent Hub, please email paul.glover@albionfoundation.co.uk for more information.