Every time Scott Rogers walks into St George’s Park, a sign on the wall catches his eye. It boasts that the 330-acre site is the proud home of all England’s football teams. “I look at it every time and go, ‘Well, not all of them’,” says Rogers, head coach of the England men’s amputee team.
Rogers guided the side to the Nations League trophy in 2023, making them one of the world’s leading amputee nations. Yet while the Football Association funds six para national teams, amputee football is not among them. Now the team is struggling to raise the £50,000 needed to compete at the men’s World Cup in Mexico in November.
“England’s amputee football team may miss the World Cup after the FA refused to fund their £50,000 trip.”
“We’re Nations League champions, and there’s a chance we won’t go to this World Cup,” Rogers says. “For an England team at the top of the game to miss a World Cup due to funding, it doesn’t sit right.” The FA earned £21.5m in prize money for the senior men’s team finishing third in the World Cup and received £1.1m in preparation funds. The amputee programme was under the FA umbrella until 2006, when funding was cut. “That left a lot of bad feeling at the time,” Rogers says.
The charity-run setup now includes a women’s team that reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural World Cup in 2024 and a junior system with more than 70 players aged four to 17. It is run by volunteers and funded by donations. FA representatives shadowed the team at the 2022 World Cup and were impressed, but a funding offer fell short.
Elsewhere, Gary O’Neil is poised to become Ipswich’s new head coach, with the 43-year-old expected to return to England from Ligue 1 Strasbourg. Only minor details remain to be sorted, with O’Neil primed to succeed Kieran McKenna, who announced his wish to depart after leading Ipswich to the top flight for a second time. O’Neil joined Strasbourg – part of the BlueCo stable that owns Chelsea – in January, replacing Liam Rosenior. Last season he led Strasbourg to eighth in Ligue 1 and the Conference League semi-finals, where they lost to Rayo Vallecano. He has a longstanding relationship with Ipswich’s chief executive, Mark Ashton, from his playing days at Bristol City.
Burnley, meanwhile, are pushing for Craig Bellamy to be their next head coach after contacting the Football Association of Wales. They are seeking to replace Scott Parker after relegation to the Championship. Bellamy recently stated his desire to lead Wales at Euro 2028, but has also made no secret of his attraction to club management. “Wales gave me this opportunity… It’s the best role in the world,” he said this month.