England amputee side may miss World Cup over £50,000 funding gap
England’s reigning amputee Nations League champions may be forced to skip the upcoming World Cup, exposing the fragile charity-based funding model that underpins para-sport in one of Europe’s richest football associations.
The England men’s amputee football team is struggling to raise the £50,000 needed to compete at the World Cup in Mexico this November. Despite winning the Nations League in 2023, the squad remains excluded from the Football Association’s para-football funding structure.
The funding shortfall highlights a stark wealth distribution gap within English football’s governing body. The mainstream men’s team earned £21.5m in prize money and £1.1m in preparation funds for their recent third-place World Cup finish. By contrast, the amputee programme relies entirely on donations to survive.
The FA currently funds six para national teams, but amputee football has been outside its umbrella since 2006. A 2022 funding offer from the governing body was rejected because it would have reduced training frequency and cut specialist coaching staff, according to former head coach Scott Rogers.
Running a high-performance sports programme on voluntary donations is increasingly unsustainable. Players must now pay for their own flights for an upcoming match in Ireland. “When you look at the funding within the FA and the money involved in football, what we’re asking for to make an amazing programme is a drop in the ocean,” Rogers says.
The financial instability threatens the viability of a squad that operates without salaries. “These people don’t get paid for playing, they have jobs. If the programme isn’t of a certain level, what’s the incentive to continue to play? They sacrifice holidays with their families,” Rogers says.
The team previously relied on a televised appeal on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to raise enough money for Euro 2024. Rogers warns this is not a reliable economic model. “The danger is if we don’t secure long-term funding soon – because we can’t keep going on telly, it’s a model that won’t continue to work – I feel that we’re going to start to fall away,” he says.
The association has built a broader development pathway, with a women’s team reaching the 2024 World Cup quarter-finals and a junior system of over 70 players. However, without institutional backing, this infrastructure is at risk. Rogers warns that without intervention, the sport will be “ground into the ground when we’re on the verge of something incredibly special.”
