Amjad Iqbal. What a man. What a player.
Iqbal never played professionally, but represented Pakistan ten times at International level and in World Cup qualifiers. A fine achievement, considering he started playing at 13 in Bradford, and he remains a role model for aspiring footballers in the Asian community.
He also has a claim to be Farsley Celtic’s greatest ever player. The midfielder was an integral part of the Lee Sinnott rocket ride which saw Farsley win three promotions in four season to go from the old NPL Division One to the Conference National, climaxing with the unforgettable 2007 Conference North play-off final against Hinckley United. He was the captain of Farsley for many years too.
Clubs, even Football League outfit Burnley, chased him for years, but he always stayed loyal to Farsley from 2002 until early 2009. That’s when the financially-stricken club were on collision course with an iceberg. He did want to leave, but assured by the club president John Palmer that the fee Bradford (Park Avenue) were willing to pay would keep Throstle Nest open for a bit longer, he reluctantly fell on his sword.
He spent 15 months with Avenue, initially under Lee Sinnott and then father figure John Deacey – bowing out with Deacey and the rest of the gang following the 2010 NPL play-off final defeat to Boston United.
Iqbal, a chemistry lecturer, made a return to reformed Farsley in late September 2010 and had just scored in his fifth game back – the 4-1 win over Armthorpe Welfare – when an horrific tackle left him with a broken leg in two places.
Although he made two brief comebacks, his brilliant career was truthfully cut untimely short on 9th October 2010
This is Amjad Iqbal’s Non League Journey:
“I started playing football quite late and how I got into it was quite accidental. I used to play in the streets (in Bradford) when I was five or six. I was always in the streets. I never played for a Junior team competitively or anything like that. I started playing properly when I got into upper school when I was 13 and that was by chance. We used to have physical education and I loved playing football so the teacher said ‘why don’t you try out for the school team’? I said ‘I don’t have time for that because I study’. But he said ‘look, the school team is always getting beat, why don’t you try’. So I played for the school team and in the first game I excelled and I was made captain. This was after playing competitively for the first time. After about a year we played against the best school team in Bradford, St Bedes, who had about five or six Bradford City lads in their team. We played against them and I excelled and the Bradford City scout who was there said ‘I want to see you on Friday, Scholemoor 6pm, training for Bradford City under 15s. So I played for Bradford City’s under 15s and 16s and then got released at 16.
“I had a choice of doing a YTS course and I think they were paying £35 a week. What it involves was cleaning boots, nine to five, training as well. I put that to my parents who are obviously from Pakistan and my dad said ‘hold on, you’ve just aced your GCSE’s and you want to go and do a YTS that will give you £35 a week, nine to five, and the job description is cleaning boots, putting nets up, cleaning kit up, tidying changing rooms, training, ball-boying at games’. My dad is a proud man and his mentality was ‘no son of mine is going to clean boots or this’. He just didn’t get it. I said ‘dad, this is grassroots, we have to do this’. But he said no. So that’s one of the reasons that took me away from Bradford City at a young age.”
Thackley
“Andy Taylor was a teacher at my school when I was doing my A-Levels and he said ‘Ammers, why don’t you come to Thackley’s training ground on a Thursday to train’. This was when I was 16 so it was difficult as it was quite fair. When I got a car when I was 17 I started going training and it started from there. I played three seasons under Andy Taylor with players like Craig Sugden and James Couborough. We were always middle of the team, always getting by. But we had a good team and there was one season where we really excelled and started looking at top six. Andy’s management skills came through and there were a few good youngsters coming through like me.”
Doncaster Rovers
“I signed a three-month contract with Doncaster under Dave Penney when I was 17 or 18 when I had finished my A-Levels. I went in pre-season and scored two goals in a game. Dave put me on the bench for the next first team game, but I didn’t get on. It didn’t last longer than three months as money was tight and they couldn’t afford to keep me on a longer contract. But it is the first time I met Andy Watson on the training ground. He’s a funny lad, but really welcoming.”
The night John Deacey came into Iqbal’s life
“The night it all changed was when we played Farsley in a cup game. Everyone played well and I know I played out of my socks.
“Martin Haresign and John Deacey were stood together and they both said ‘look at that kid, he’s took control of the whole game, we want him at Farsley’.
“At the time I was just going to University and Andy said ‘look someone has put seven days in for you, do you want to go’? So I said ‘who is it’? Because they were a league above, I said ‘yeah, I want to test myself in the league above and improve myself’. Andy was fine with it and we shook hands.”
Albion Sports
“At the time when i signed for Farsley, I was playing Sunday football for Albion Sports. I played for them for two seasons and in those two seasons we cleaned up everything. We got to the National Sunday Final in one of those seasons and we played at Nottingham Forest. We lost, but we dominated the whole match. We hit the bar, post. Luck just wasn’t with us. I got man of the match which was nice. But John Deace put me on a contract at Farsley which meant I couldn’t play on a Sunday.”
Playing for Martin Haresign at Farsley
“I remember Martin being a really nice guy and he just wanted the best for the team. What he wanted from me was energy in the midfield, keep the ball and pass it and move. He understood football and he was a really good man-manager.
“We did really well in that first season and I formed a really good partnership with Andy Shields. We had Michael Midwood upfront and he was really good. We had Lee Connor at the back so we had a really good spine.”
Haresign’s Departure
“Mark Bett was playing Saturday league with some of my friends and he was a good player and could finish so I recommended him to Martin.
“Martin signed Mark Bett and then an hour after, Martin got the sack.I remembering getting a call from someone saying ‘Martin’s gone’.”
Burnley Trial
“I had done really well during the back-end of that first season at Farsley and Burnley contacted the club and said ‘can you send this young man down in pre-season’.
“Part of my job was to pick up Robbie Blake, their star striker who was banned from driving. He realised I was coming from Bradford and he had been getting taxis from Bradford to training so he asked me to do him a favour. I didn’t mind as it was on the way so I used to pick him up on Shipley Street. He was a really nice guy and he used to tell me some right stories about Gazza as Gazza had been at Burnley a year or two before.
“Stan Ternent was an old school manager. When I got there, he didn’t even know I was coming for a trial. The assistant manager Ronnie Jepson had arranged it. I started training and I had the mentality that I would end up in the top three of anything I would do, running anything and I did. In the first training game, I went into a really tough tackle and I took out a player, but I got the ball. Stan wasn’t happy and he said ‘here, you come off the pitch’. So I had to stand off and he said ‘that’s my professional footballer and you’re injuring them’. I said ‘I haven’t injured them, he’s still playing. I went into a 50/50 and I won the ball’.
“I played a game against Bolton Wanderers and he said ‘we’ll call you’, but they didn’t. I don’t think I had the full opportunity to show what I was about. I only played 45 minutes against Bolton and they made a judgement on that. I think Stan Ternent already had it in his mind from the moment I got there.”
Fasting
“When I was training I was ok because I felt lighter, good. I was lucky, I had a good metabolism and I just felt ok when I was training. There was only one game when It really got to me, that I felt I can’t do no more, Gainsborough away. I was fasting the day and it was a weirdly sunny day, it was October/ November time. I was playing for Farsley and I kept going up for headers and running and the ball kept hitting my head. The sun was in my eyes and my mouth all dried up.
“It is extremely difficult when you are training. I was always fasting when I played throughout my career, it didn’t really bother me. The only thing that was hard was not drinking water as my thirst got to me. But I kept going with my mental strength. Once I get mental and physical strength, this kept me going. It was the same at all the levels I went through, I just continued fasting even at Conference level, I was fasting and playing against some quality players, I was still holding my own and still doing well.”
Lee Sinnott and John Deacey
“Lee was very tactical as well as a very calm man. He had a really good blend with John Deace, it was a really good combination and it worked well. You had the calmness of Lee and then John, a good man-manager. He knew who to rattle and who not to rattle. Some people didn’t get on with him and didn’t like him. But he is a footballing father figure for me as he did a lot for my career. He knew who to put an arm round. Lee put the tactical side to it. He would pick the right players for the correct game and he wasn’t afraid of making changes. You were always merited on your last performance. His coaching skills were really good too.
“He told me as a former centre-half when I was 21/22, ‘look if you carry on playing centre-half, you will make it pro, if you play centre midfield, you won’t go far’. I didn’t accept it, I said ‘look I want to play in midfield’. I had too much energy in me and my concentration levels were no good for centre-half. So he kept playing me in midfield.
“What Lee changed was the professionalism. No disrespect to Martin Haresign because he was awesome, but to push it to a new level, Lee Sinnott had all his badges and he was an ex pro. He knew how professionalism worked. Every training session was intense, everyone was fighting for their places and he would watch body language. So the attention to detail was there and he was brilliant. John would join in training sessions and keep the relaxed atmosphere between the lads, but yet draw the line when he needed to.
“Under Lee we would go into games not thinking we were underdogs, but knowing we would could win this game regardless who it was.”
The Rocket Ride
“You wouldn’t believe in 2003 that we would win three promotions in four years, but Lee actually told me this. I was a bit reluctant to sign on again that year when Lee became the manager because there were other teams who came in for me like Harrogate Town, Guiseley and a few others. They were offering better money, but Lee called me over at one session and said ‘I can promise you that in the next five or six seasons we will be playing at a really good level, we won’t be here’. He saw the bigger picture and a fair few years ahead. He said ‘I could build a team here and we can excel’. I kind of got convinced and John Deace convinced me more. John Deace was the person who got me there and looked after me so I said I would stay a season to see how it went. John’s man-management was excellent. Every summer clubs would be after me, but John always talked me into staying.
“I stayed a season and we had a blinder of a season and I saw what Lee was trying to do. I saw the players he brought in, the connections he had. He basically put a buzz around Farsley and it was there for five or six years. You could see the buzz in the players’ faces, the management’s faces, the volunteers’ faces, the supporters’ faces. Even though we were on a low budget, we had team spirit and we had something about us.
“We won promotion in Lee’s first season. We should have won the league in the second season, but that got took over us. In the third season, we won the West Riding County Cup, the League Cup and promotion to the Conference North after beating North Ferriby in the play-off final.”
North Ferriby Play Off Final
“Ryan Crossley hitting his head on the metal bar in the tunnel, that upset me that did. Not because he hurt himself, but because I had to go centre-back then. Blood was pouring out so he couldn’t carry on so Lee said ‘right Ammers, you’re going to the back’. I said ‘cheers’.
“At least we won the game and it was a big victory as it promoted us into the Conference North.”
2006/07 Season
MK Dons FA Cup Tie
“It is an unforgettable season, but I didn’t play in the first two big games of that season as I was injured for the FA Cup first round tie with MK Dons and the replay which we lost 2-0. I would have loved to have played in them.”
Run to the Conference North Play Off Final
“We were unstoppable towards the end of that season and the team who gets promoted in the play-offs tends to be the team who gets a good run going. The team who is most dangerous is the one who finishes in fifth position because of the way they have got into the play-offs. That sums us up as we just scraped into the play-offs after a late winning streak.
“We got Kettering in the semi-finals and they were favourites as they were full-time. The two legs were two of the hardest games we ever played. In the first game at home we should have won as we did really well. The away leg was really awesome. We were underdogs again and again someone got injured early on and I had to do a centre-half job again. They had some chances and we had some chances and it was a really difficult match. It was a tough game and we came through it via a penalty shootout. After that I said ‘in the final we’re going to go all the way here’.”
Hinckley Play Off Final
“For a one-off game it is one of my favourite games that I played in, for Farsley definitely. I was there from the beginning and I was the longest serving player in that team. I was the only player who played for Farsley in the season before Lee Sinnott arrived. Players were added along the way who became the core of the team. Morgs (Tom Morgan), Roy Stamer, Knowlesy (James Knowles) were there in Lee’s first season and Simeon (Bambrook), Ryan Crossley, Andy Watson, Martin Pemberton, Carl Serrant came later. We had unsung heroes like Chris Stabb. (Gareth Grant) Granty, he was amazing. That guy hardly trained, hardly did anything, but he was a game-day man and he was awesome. He could score and his finishing was really good. Damian Reeves was a big signing and he scored in the Conference North play-off final.
“It was a topsy-turvy game. I thought from the word go that we would easily win this, but I don’t know what happened. Because Carl Serrant got injured and couldn’t play, I had to go centre-half again and that kind of disturbed our patten. Hinckley scored two and it was 2-1 at half-time, but we turned it round. I haven’t seen the game back ever, but the last five minutes were unbelievable. Crossley scored a header and then Simeon’s penalty won it. I watched it clearly and I knew he would blast it. You need nerves of steel and he was really experienced for that situation.
“I was like ‘wow’. The emotions of going all that way from where we had come from with Farsley got to me. Going all the way with the people I knew in the stands, the supporters, the volunteers, the board. We were a small club and no-one thought we would get anywhere. We maybe were a mid-table side, but we excelled. That showed team spirit, the cohesion between us. There was no ‘i’ in the changing room, no bad apples. We were all on a level, we always had fun at matches and training. This kind of energy and family togetherness was massive for us. There was also a family atmosphere around the club and it felt good that night. In the back of my head I was thinking ‘a lot of people doubted us’ and it was kind of ‘in your faces guys’.
“I still keep in touch with the Farsley lads. We have a WhatsApp group and there’s a few of us on there. There’s Michael Midwood, Bettsy, Damian Reeves, Crossley, Watson, Morgs, Andy Shields. I still speak to Knowlesy, Simeon. I speak to Bettsy a lot. Playing for Farsley is one of the happiest times in football I had. I made some really good friends, especially on-and-off-the-field. We have all gone our separate ways, but when it comes to talking about the old days, we all get chills on the back of our necks.
Pakistan International
“It is not where I was born, it was where my parents were born. The Pakistan FA were trying to contact me when we were playing in the Conference North and I was thinking ‘is it real or is it not’. It was made official during the 2007/08 season and I was selected to play in two World Cup qualifiers.
“I went across and the facilities were good, but not really good. The first sport there is cricket, not football. In the UK, you’ll see lads playing football on a cricket pitch. But over there you will see lads playing cricket on a football pitch. Cricket is the first sport, then it is hockey and then football.
“It was so warm and they had a FIFA camp where we all stayed. Me, Adnan Ahmed, Zesh Rehman and another lad called Adam Karim who went over from the UK. We had just been on an eight hour flight and that night we had a kick-around! I could see the physicality of us five compared to the other lads. There was a bit of difference and they acknowledged that. There were some really good quality players playing for Pakistan, they just needed guidance.
“The first game was against Iraq, the Asia champions, and we got beat 7-1. The tactics were all wrong. Trying to change it on the pitch as a UK based player, no-one was going to listen. Zesh knew this and Adnan knew this. When we played Iraq away, we got together and we said ‘we are playing the best team in Asia and we’re trying to attack them. It is stupid, we’re already 7-1 behind, we’re not going to win this game, let’s make it respectful’. We basically put five at the back in the sense of wing-backs and held our ground. We were playing in front of 40,000 or 50,000 and I had never experienced that. When would I have experienced that? That was the day I thought ‘wow’. Even if you were stood five metres apart, I couldn’t really speak to you as the crowd noise was so loud. We did really well in the game and we drew 0-0. The tactics worked and that is one of my proudest moments.”
Playing against York City, two hours after arriving back from Pakistan
“On that night before I was due to fly back, I get a phone call from John Deace to say that Lee Sinnott had gone to Port Vale. He says that we have a game against York City a few hours after I’m due to land in the UK at Manchester Airport. It was on a Sunday, live on Setanta Sports and it kicked off at 7.45pm. I was due to land at 4pm, but it got delayed so I landed at 5pm. John said ‘please get here on time, you’ll be on the bench, you won’t be playing’. Straight as I was off the flight, I got into my gear, shin pads, the lot, and my brother drove me directly to Farsley. The place was packed and I got there 20 minutes before kick off. I ran into the changing rooms and I saw my name on the team-sheet. I was playing centre-midfield! I looked at John and he said ‘get your boots on son’! Somebody was injured so I said ‘oh no, John’. I didn’t mind because I had an adrenaline rush so I put my boots on and I had a decent game. We lost 4-1, Roy Stamer scored a brilliant goal. I felt fit, but it got to the 82nd minute and my adrenaline vanished and my legs went. I looked at John and he said ‘get up’ and he had to take me off.”
Further Appearances for Pakistan
“I played in the South Asia Cup and we ended up getting to the semi-finals, along with some friendlies. They were proud moments as my dad came to watch. Yes I wasn’t born there, but they were proud moments for my mum and dad, as for myself.
“I was going continue playing for them, but when I broke my leg, that was one of the reasons I stopped. I remember one time going across to Pakistan for a holiday and it was after I broke my leg so I had metal rod in my leg. I had gone through this scanner and it beeped. So I said ‘look I’ve got an implant in me, here’s my orthopaedic card’. They asked for my passport and it shows me travelling all over the Middle East with Pakistan. They took me to one side and said ‘where do you live’? ‘Bradford’ was my response. The plot thickens. Next question ‘what’s your job’? ‘I’m a chemistry lecturer’ and I had a hoodie and rucksack so it didn’t add up for them. They questioned me and it all got sorted, but that’s when I said ‘my international career is over, I’m not going through that again’.”
Role Model
“I was considered some sort of role model and I did go into a few schools, a few events, community places, libraries to present trophies and certificates and talk about my career and my mental strength.”
Lack of Asian Footballers in the Premier League
“If you look at the stats and the number for the Asian population in the Uk, I don’t think it is many. I’d say about two or three million. You have 70 million people living here. So it is a minority. My day was different because I went to trials at certain clubs and do extremely well and not get picked. You’re talking 20 years back and I would there was a little bit of racism in there. But, to be honest now, if you’re going to benefit the team you’ll improve the team going forward. So I don’t think racism would come into much. I have experienced it in my time, but in the current climate if you’re good enough, you’ll make it.
“Plus like I said about the stats, you’re thinking ‘oh there is so many Asians out there, why isn’t there one Asian Premier League footballer’? There has been a few like a couple of friends – like Adnan Ahmed who played in the League and Zesh Rehman.”
Conference Football with Farsley
“We had Torquay away on a Saturday, Weymouth, trips to London so we were travelling quite far up and down the country. It was hard for me and others to get time off work and asking for leave. It was almost full-time, but I enjoyed it. I think we would have stayed up if some of the players like Ryan Crossley had stayed fit. It was a proud season for me as I captained a team at the highest level they had ever played at and at a club who had put me on the map and got me my international caps. John Deacey, who took over permanently from Lee Sinnott, did extremely well with the resources he had available, but we as a club and a team reached our limit.
“There was always a good laugh on the trips. We had the card schools, not that I got involved with that. My religion has restricted me with a lot of things which is good in a way. I never lasted the course on nights out. I usually lasted until 11 when I saw people getting tipsy. That’s when I would make way. I hardly ever swore. When we won something I couldn’t really celebrate with the team as there was champagne. Once as the bottle got popped, I had to run away as I didn’t want any alcohol on me. If you ever look at any pictures with champagne involved, you’ll see me stood on my own right in the corner celebrating on my own.”
Deacey’s sacking and Farsley’s collision course with an iceberg
“Deacey wanted to go in one direction and the club wanted to go in another. I still stay in touch with John now and he was a really good manager. That season was tough for everyone and the club’s outgoings were way higher than its income. I don’t think people realise that John Deace did things to keep the club maintained and didn’t appreciate what he did for the club. I know he was a character, but he did a lot for Farsley.
“Neil Parsley took over and he did extremely well by keeping us ticking over as a team. But it was a club that I never wanted to leave. Lee Sinnott got the Bradford (Park Avenue) job with John Deacey and most of our players started to disappear. Me and John Palmer, another heart on his sleeve man, had a conversation. Him and his wife Margaret are lovely people and I loved with working with them. John was an honest man, too honest at times. He pulled me to one side and said ‘Park Avenue have come in for you, they are going to pay a fee for you and at the moment we are struggling and you’re on a contract and a big salary’. He said ‘please go to Park Avenue’. I don’t know how much they got, but John Palmer was happy with what Bob Blackburn gave him as he said ‘it will keep us going for a bit’. I was really disappointed and I didn’t want to leave, even though it was Lee Sinnott and John Deacey. Farsley was part of me, I had been there nearly eight years.”
Park Avenue
“I played for Park Avenue with 100% and I had Lee Sinnott and John Deacey, plus many of my mates from Farsley like Knowlesy, Stephen Downes, Roy Stamer, Tom Morgan. There was a feel of Farsley there. It was a little different as we were favourites to go up (2009/10 season), we weren’t underdogs anymore. We did really well in the season and in the play-off final against Boston United it just didn’t happen for us. We dominated the game, but it went into extra-time and they got a lucky goal from a corner and that was it.”
Return to Farsley
“Once as Deace left after the Boston game, Avenue wanted me back, but I said ‘no’. Deace was meant to be the assistant manager to Simon Weaver at Harrogate Town so the plan was to go there. But in the end Deace didn’t go to Harrogate.
“I didn’t sign anywhere and by September, Pars, who was in charge of the Farsley team which had been demoted, contacted me and said ‘why don’t you come here and play a few games to get yourself fit’? I started playing there and after three or four games, I broke my leg.”
Saturday 9th October 2010
“I have not seen the tackle, I have not talked about it before now and I’ve not looked back on it.
“In terms of injuries the worst one that really set me back at the backend probably caused me to stop playing retire and from the game quite early was the double fracture, leg break.
“I can remember the game clearly, it was at Farsley and Neil Parsley was in charge and he put me in midfield. We were winning the game 3-0 after 28 minutes into the game and we were cruising through the game. Me and Knowlsey were in centre midfield and we were just breaking everything up and playing perfectly.
“It was a 50/50 ball, I got there before the other player. I just focussed on the ball and I didn’t see his tackle coming, all I heard was a big crunch. I fell to the ground and to be honest I tried getting up again. I got up and thought ‘that hurts’ so I sat back down and I said ‘that’s not right’ and I just sat there and sat there and then (physio) Gaz (Liversedge) came running over. then there was uproar and I could hear people shouting and they were all pushing and shoving and I thought ‘what’s going on here’? I am on the pitch and why is everyone coming on the pitch and then all of a sudden felt a really sharp pain and I thought ‘oh I have done something bad here’. I felt the pain and Gaz Liversedge the physio was awesome. He just came on and said ‘Ammers don’t worry about it, its fine just try and relax’. There was a doctor on site, I forget the guy’s name, he used to come and watch the games. He put me in a leg brace and the ambulance came and took me and then I realised it was a double fracture. I had to have it operated on and they put a titanium rod in.
“I was mentally very strong and from the moment I found out that it was double fracture and I knew the titanium rod was going to go in I still felt I was going to come back. But after a double fracture it takes ages to come back and obviously and we weren’t a professional team so you do not get everyday treatment. I used to get treatment off Gaz and he always used to be available for me, bless him. For my recovery Gaz was awesome, he was really supporting and always giving me a lot of exercises to help me through it.”
Return
“All of a sudden after about ten months I was up and running again. I was strong and I felt normal again almost and then I started playing again and then I got a hairline fracture in the same place because I came back too early. This was when I was playing for Park Avenue again under Deacey.
“Now things were creeping into my head. I was thirty now and I have had a fracture and I have had another hairline fracture which set me back another six months and this was very upsetting. I was fast, fit, sharp, aggressive, got to the ball first. But it did pray on my mind, and after the next recovery period I started playing a little bit more for Park Avenue. John Deacey was still there and he just said come along. I played a couple games, but then I thought I need to take some time out to recover properly.”
Retirement
“So I took time out and recovered properly and came back and when I got a phone call from F C Manchester. They called me up and it was sad the way it all went downhill. They wanted to keep me, (Karl Marginson) he wanted me to carry on playing. In the 67th minute I could clearly remember we were winning 3-0 nil and it was a rainy day, I went up for a header and I headed it out and landed on that same leg and I went ‘ouch’. I was about 33 or 34 and I thought I really don’t need this now so at the end of the game, I went up to the manager Karl Marginson and I said ‘look cancel my contract I just want out’. He said I could still play, but it was just my body saying ‘I feel like its not right’. Bless him, he just said ‘that’s fine, that’s perfect, if you don’t want to carry on, that’s your choice and it takes a brave man to say it’. I was on a contract and being paid a good wage, a high salary there, But I didn’t feel like I was right and I didn’t want to continue because I wasn’t going to be giving it justice. I just walked away from it and that was it.
“Then after that its been all keeping fit, keeping myself fit and ticking over playing little bits here and there, not 11-a-side. It was upsetting when the first injury happened and I think without it, I would still be playing now.
“After I left football, I left football and I didn’t look back. On the odd occasion I look out for Farsley’s results and if it is on Sky Sports I look for Park Avenue’s results.
“I can look back at my career and I can say I’ve had International caps, I’ve played at Conference level and won numerous promotion.
“I wish I could gone further, but it comes down to upbringing and I think I had been coached from five or six upwards, I think my career would have been different. I got into grassroots football when I was 13 and luckily some of my ability was natural.”
If you have enjoyed this interview and the Non League Journey interview series, please watch the video at the bottom of the page and consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and we have incurred losses which we cannot recover. We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. As each day goes on, a substantial number of our players become further isolated so we need to be ‘ready for action’ when restrictions are lifted.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.