On Saturday 30th January 2010 the Middlesex & Home Counties Blind Team partook in the third set of league fixtures in the FA National Blind League in Hereford. The blind team is run through Middlesex County Football Association and represents the area encompassed by Middlesex and the Home Counties and is partially funded by the Football Association. The team provides regular coaching and fixtures for players in the region who are registered as B1 (Blind). The organising and running of the team is made possible in Middlesex through the tremendous support of Harrow based company Munnelly Support Services Limited in partnership with the Football Foundation and Sportsmatch.
Teams from Middlesex & Home Counties, West Bromwich Albion, Royal National College for the Blind, North West FC (Everton FC) and Worcester University descended upon the league venue at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford to play the next set of fixtures in the FA National Blind League. Taking part in a round-robin format, each team had the chance to play against each other and continue the team’s development from the coaching sessions delivered by highly qualified Football Association coaches. The team did themselves proud with a series of strong defensive displays to hold out for four clean sheets and four valuable points. The performances highlighted the development of the players over the previous weeks where the focus has been on the defensive aspects of the game.
Clear blue skies and wall to wall sunshine could not prevent the frost making the outdoor pitch unsafe and therefore Plan B came into operation and all games were played Indoor. Whether this has any bearing but only four goals in total scored in the 10 games. Several key players were missing for a number of reasons – David Clarke (Middlesex & HC), Jonathan Gribbin (Everton); Darren Harris (WBA) and Craig Lundberg (RNC). Worcester have now put themselves in a good position to win the League with a 5 point advantage, but who knows if all players are present in February there are 12 points to play for. Interesting in the fixtures played today 3 teams (Worcester, RNC and Middlesex & Home Counties) did not loose a game. It was also good to have the 4 referees available and therefore every game had 2 on field referees. Saturday 27th February 2010 will bring to a conclusion the League for this season and then on Saturday 27th March 2010 there will be the Cup Competition (each team will play a minimum of 4 games) followed by the Presentations for both the League and the Cup. Please ensure you are available for this conclusion to events.
The Middlesex & Home Counties Blind Team run through Middlesex County Football Association is the exit route for players who are registered as B1 (Blind) to partake in regular training and fixtures during the season. Players who excel at this level will have the opportunity to progress further up the player pathway and ultimately play for the England national side. Training twice a month and with regular monthly fixtures squad members receive substantial contact time to aid with shaping individual players overall personal development.
The team currently trains at Talacre Community Sports Centre, Camden on Saturday’s between 4.30pm to 6pm. There are a healthy number of players currently registered with the team including players from the current England National team. There is no restriction on the number of players who can train and be involved with the team.
If you would like further information about the Middlesex & Home Counties Blind Team please call Jon Whittingham on 020 8515 6904 or email jon.whittingham@middlesexfa.com
For more online information please log onto the following link: http://www.middlesexfa.com/Development/DisabilityFootball