THE England Amputee football team enjoyed a historic triumph winning their first major trophy in 34 years - and St Helens played a central role in the success.
Head coach of the England Amputee Football team Scott Rogers lives in Haydock.
Meanwhile, the playing squad includes Liam Burbidge, from Clock Face, and also Isle of Man-born Sean Jackson, who lives in St Helens.
Scott was a teacher for 20 years and over the past seven years has set up residential children’s homes.
An opportunity came up for him to get involved in the England Amputee team, and from January he got the head coach’s role.
The team went out to Krakow in Poland and competed in the first ever Nations League tournament top division.
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The team started our campaign against powerhouses Turkey and won the game 1-0 with a magnificent performance.
England’s second game saw them play against a strong Polish team, and after a really tough encounter they won 2-1.
Meanwhile, their final game was against Spain and the team was victorious winning 1-0 to be crowned the first ever Nations League Champions and make history.
The triumph marked the first major trophy for the England Amputee Football Association since 1989.
“We didn’t go into the competition looking to win, we just trust our processes,” said Scott, 45.
“If you look at the teams, we played Turkey who have three professional leagues, the Polish have a professional league and we played Spain, who have a professional system.
“We were the amateur team, for us to do this is an incredible achievement.
“That result against Turkey, they hadn’t been beaten since 2014, it was incredible.”
Scott hopes the triumph can provide a massive boost to amputee football in England, with the England team reliant on sponsorships for funding.
“We are looking to raise the profile of the game, it’s important we start to raise that profile.
“Unlike other nations, we run things, we are not under the umbrella of the FA, we rely 100 per cent on sponsorship and fundraising.
“The infrastructure around the team is incredible, with doctors, analysts, sports science. In order to compete we are so reliant on other people’s generosity.
“It is an elite environment and we have to work to get to that level.”
There are currently four professional clubs in England, including Everton.
Scott added: “We just need as much publicity as we can, this opportunity doesn’t come very often.”
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