Already this season two of England's Disability football teams have reached the final of their respective European Championships, and next week England's Cerebral Palsy team will be aiming to go one step further at World Cup in Argentina.
England, who will be managed by Technical Director Paul Harrison and supported by Assistant Steve Bartlett, have been drawn in an extremely tough group, where they will have to finish in the top two in order to qualify for the semi-finals, although added motivation - if it were needed - lies in the offering of a guaranteed place in the 2004 Paralympics for countries finishing in the top three.
All five national Disability football squads are funded and supported by the FA, and this year marked the first-ever investment of over £600,000 into supporting the elite national squads, and the development of a grassroots infrastructure that will create pan-disability coaching centres in every county in England by 2006.
By the end of 2003, the FA will also have launched its Disability Football Strategy, outlining action required with key targets for the next five years.
This document has been identified within the disability section of the FA National Game Football Development Strategy and The Football Association Ethics and Sports Equity document, which clearly identify the need to develop a comprehensive framework against which to implement the vision of 'becoming the world's leading governing body in the development of disability football'.
