Serving My Community

Paul Gorman, England

England Football (The FA) and Goal Click teamed up for a special series telling the story of disability football in England through the eyes and words of those involved across elite and grassroots disability football - including players, coaches, young leaders, and referees.

My name is Paul Gorman and I have always lived in Leeds. I currently coach Powerchair football at Leeds Powerchair Football Club and we are soon to celebrate our 10-year anniversary.

I retired a few years back from my job as an Access Officer for Education Leeds – I was responsible for the design of schools across Leeds to ensure local children with special educational needs or disability (SEND) could access their local schools and worked with staff on how to teach and include SEND kids in mainstream education.

I have been involved in football longer than I care to remember! I became involved as a kid playing at school and then for my local clubs. Once I became a parent and my son Kaan showed an aptitude for the game, I was roped in as his team coach as no one else was willing to do the job. The problem is that I really enjoyed it and started to become more and more involved!

Coaching my son’s team Seacroft Colts was just the start of my football journey. I quickly attained several coaching badges and started coaching other teams too. As futsal was developing, I jumped into the coaching and development of the game. I soon linked my day job to coaching, becoming one of the first FA Safeguarding Tutors delivering courses across the north of England.

While attending a FA Course I met Paul Young who was to become a lifelong friend. He happened to be deaf and was looking to start coaching deaf children - and so my venture into disability football started. Our legacy led to Farsley Celtic Deaf FC winning the Deaf Disability Cup at St George’s Park in 2022.

In 2010 life took a new turn and I became a wheelchair user. I had a bulged disc high on my spine and after ten months the surgeon decided to operate. It was meant to be a routine operation, but it did not go to plan, leaving me paralysed from the nipples down.

My job prepared me for what to expect, having had years working with disabled children, physios, occupational therapists, and adaptation and equipment providers.

I continued coaching mainstream and working with deaf children, but it became increasingly difficult to access outdoor pitches in a wheelchair during winter, so I stopped for a while.

Then an opportunity in Powerchair football arrived, as a local club were starting out and looking for coaches and volunteers. I am now heavily involved in coaching at Leeds PFC and for the FA Regional and National pathways.

I wanted to show our training sessions at our base at Bishop Young Academy in Leeds. All the players are in our competitive teams at the club - all of them started out at Leeds and are developing at Leeds. Many are now on the FA Regional pathway looking to one day represent their country in the sport. A couple of players have come from other clubs as they are eager to be part of a club that has developed a reputation for developing exciting players and teams.

There is a stark difference between mainstream and disability football. The equipment is so different although the principle remains the same, stick the round object between two posts!

Football offers our players so much. Social isolation is a big issue for many of our players and coming to sessions breaks that barrier. It gives a chance to be part of a team, be part of an extended community, the opportunity to travel, play, learn and enjoy the game. Players get the opportunity to expand into coaching and become more involved in the running and decision making within the club.

Football is an opportunity to grow, learn, enjoy, share, develop, be challenged and to have fun.

In the future I want to have a greater influence on how the game of Powerchair football develops and provides more opportunities to all.

Leeds PFC is one of only two clubs covering the whole of Yorkshire. I think growth will continue but I hope we can develop additional clubs increasing opportunity across the whole county. As the sport gets more exposure, more people may choose to become involved in all areas of the game. 

I would like to see more mainstream coaches trying out disability coaching to see how it will help them back in their mainstream coaching.

Powerchair football opens a huge range of opportunities and experiences for anyone willing to give it a go. Anyone with a disability can access the game and will be supported on their journey. Only they can decide where it ends!