West Lothian footballer with sight-loss to play in FA's cup final

A Livingston-based footballer who lost his sight has made it to the finals of the FA Disability Cup.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

Neil Atkinson will play alongside his Scorpions Futsal Club teammates, who are set to take on Birmingham Futsal rivals in the partially-sighted football finals this weekend.

The talented 22-year-old hopes football fans from across Lothian will tune into BT Sports 1 on Saturday, July 17 to cheer him on.

Neil Atkinson, 22, training hard for the FA Cup finals.Neil Atkinson, 22, training hard for the FA Cup finals.
Neil Atkinson, 22, training hard for the FA Cup finals.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This is the first time the tournament, which kicks off at 2.45pm at the FA’s St. George's Park, will be broadcast on national television.

Further coverage that includes enhanced audio description and British Sign Language will appear on BT Sports 3 and BT Sports Extra 1 to make sure people of all abilities can tune in.

"It’s the first time it will be live on TV,” said Mr Atkinson. “So it would be great if as many people could watch it to encourage BT to continue to cover it in the future.”

Mr Atkinson was diagnosed with the genetic condition Stargardt macular dystrophy at the age of eight which caused sight loss.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, this has not stopped him pursuing his passion for football.

"We play a small sided variation of football called Futsal” he explained. “It's played on a hard surface court with a slightly smaller, heavier ball than a regular football, and is played with one goalkeeper and four outfielders.

“There are no adaptations to the sport from regular Futsal rules for visual impairments - no bell in the ball, eye shields, or post-tappers.”

Over the course of the July 17-18 weekend, BT Sports will also show four other football finals including, the Powerchair, Cerebral Palsy and Amputee cup finals.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland (RNIB Scotland) will be cheering Mr Atkinson on this Saturday.

The charity hopes this football tournament will demonstrate that people with sight loss can still play and enjoy sports.

Director of RNIB Scotland James Adams said; "We hope the FA Disability Cup will also help to raise awareness that people with sight loss can still play and enjoy sports and encourage moves to open up sport to those with a disability.

"With the right accessibility, many more visually impaired people might take up the opportunity to play sports."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.