Tournament blog

Good to go!

The draw has been made and we are now officially up and running. We have some great looking fixtures and typically a ‘group of death’.

Monday was a really good day all round. From the launch of The FA’s imperious disability strategy through to the blind players kicking a ball around on the much maligned Wembley surface then the event really does feel live.

The pre cursor to the draw was quite moving. In a small room overlooking the Wembley pitch bathed in glorious sunshine, over 100 assembled guests heard from Jeff Davis, The FA’s Disability Manager who set out The FA’s vision for increasing participation in disability football. Jeff’s presentation was typical Jeff. Lot’s of energy and passion. The highlight was certainly Jeff interviewing England blind player Craig Lundberg about his experiences of being shelled in Iraq and loosing his eye sight. It was quite emotional yet incredibly down to earth and punctuated with humour. I am not sure if Craig laughed when Jeff asked him whether he was looking forward to playing in the tournament and his coach (Tony Larkin) giving him a gentle reminder that he would only be playing ‘if selected’.

Last Friday Tony asked me whether I had ever seen him angry. Well the simple answer is no. Certainly away from the football field Tony is one of the nicest and most knowledgeable football people that you could ever meet. I think his reference was ahead of the draw and worrying that the draw might pit his team against the might of Brazil and China.

Well as it turned out England got a favourable draw and Tony was as ever all smiles. I am sure there will be no complacency from the team and they can now focus on their opening game against Spain in 123 days time!

The team did get the chance to show off their skills on the Wembley turf. I am no expert but from a height and in the sun the pitch looked OK. The players did have a challenge as their demonstration was done using a full size goal so there were plenty of goals being scored – perhaps an omen for August.

The day attracted some good press activity and lots of interest from partners and people involved in football across the country.

So to this weekend and the arrival of Germany who will play a couple of games against England. I am really looking forward to seeing the team in competitive action and capping a great week for the event

Posted by Jon Dutton on 14-04-2010

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