14 December 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork City FC this evening unveiled their newest team – the Cork City FC Amputee Team, at a press launch this week in the Cork International Hotel.
The launch was attended by members of the Board of Management, Club Staff and First Team coaching staff, along with representatives of the FAI and some of the players recruited for the side so far.
Cork City General Manager Paul Wycherley commented: “I’d like to welcome the Cork City FC Amputee Team on board. When we look at the ethos of FORAS and the community side of the club, we truly are an all-inclusive club at Cork City FC. We are expanding our underage academy sides, and the women’s team are soon to be brought under FORAS.”
“We won’t stop there though, and want to try and be even more inclusive. It has been a great year for the club, and now we welcome the Amputee Team on board. They have our support, and we wish them success in their season ahead!”
Nick Harrison, FAI Football for All Development Officer, said: “This is the next step for the amputee game in Ireland. It will give players of all abilities the opportunity to train and play regularly at a local level. We see the team eventually catering for not only adult males, but also ladies and children too. In Cork, there is now, as well as the Amputee team, a blind team, a powerchair team and five Football for All clubs.”
Kevin Cahillane, who will coordinate the team along with fellow Irish international Dave Saunders, told the launch: “We had our first training session in the COPE Foundation in Montenotte [last week], and we would like to thank Terence McSweeney for his help in arranging that. It was great to see seven players turn out, of which four were new faces to the game. We are hoping the association with Cork City will get us more players and that having a local team will encourage people to come out and give it a go. With the new national league coming, it is great to be a part of it and we are hoping we can be successful and win another league title for Cork!”
“Amputee football was founded in Ireland 2012 and I got involved in 2014 and, in the same year, we travelled to the World Cup for first time in Mexico. Since then, I’ve 27 caps; the last few of which were when we finished 6th in the European Championships last October, which guaranteed us qualification for next year’s World Cup. From other countries, we see the national league as being the next step in breaking into the top tier of countries.”
City boss John Caulfield said he was delighted to welcome another team to the club, saying: “We are all delighted to welcome the lads on board, in what is another positive development for the club. We look forward to seeing how they get on, and we can assure them that our management and players will be right behind them.”
