Bradford City Disability FC creates open goals

Part of the Sported network, it is pan-disability, and the benefits stretch beyond simply playing football and the participants’ sweat and toil.

“Obviously everybody that's a part of the disability club is happy that we're running it for their kids,” Paul Jubb, coach at the club, says.

“All our coaches understand that they are going to have certain disabilities and problems. And we are willing to help them with them and take time to nurture them and make sure that they get chance to play football just as much as any mainstream kids.

“It's not just about the kids. It's about the parents as well. They get to meet other parents. They can discuss things while the kids are actually playing or training. So it's good for the parents and the families as well as the kids.

“The kids like to be part of the club and we do wear Bradford City colours, so they're always proud to wear that as well and be part of Bradford City.”

The club also make sure that the club’s social side is well run, helping to broaden the community feel and sense of belonging.

“We've been to watch England men’s, England Lionesses, we have presentation nights, we have Christmas parties,” Jubb continues. “So it's not just the football club, it's also the social side as well.

“We're taking a group of adults to Blackpool at the end of this month to play in a football tournament, and we'll be staying over for the weekend just to make more of a trip of it. We like to think we're a bit of a family club.”

The Sported network includes close to 5,000 grassroots sports groups and clubs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Sported supporting them through access to grants, expert guidance from volunteer consultants, and resources through the Sported Hub.

Bradford City Disability FC has expanded its provision from humble beginnings. Now it is growing its reach, fuelled by funding for women and girls participation in football through the Barclays Community Sport Fund.

“We've had a couple of funds from Sported,” Jubb adds. “We get an email every month with all the things that are available.

“We've put a couple of female coaches on the Level 1 course and Sported funding [from Barclays programmes] paid for that. So that was a big help.

“When we started off the female ladies team we got some funding as well, which helped the ladies and women's team that did well to get to the People's FA Cup Final, which was a national final at St George's Park.”

The club is also keen that players have opportunities to develop off the pitch as well, providing them with the chance to gain coaching qualifications.

“We send a lot of our older players on a course to do a Level 1 coaching qualification,” says Jubb. “Steven is one of our coaches, he takes one of the teams at the junior leagues. He’s deaf but he gets a lot of help from the parents as well and then Steven takes charge of the team on the pitch.”

So what next for the club? Well, on and off the pitch there’s something to be excited about.

“We're playing at Manchester United soon with the under 16s. They’re playing at Carrington in the MUDSA Cup. We're going to Flamingo Land at the end of May as well. So there's always something for them.”