England won the IBSA Blind Football Nations Cup in India with a goal scored in the very last second of the tournament
Roy Turnham scores for England blind football squad
Inspirational Hull sportsman Roy Turnham has told of his pride after leading England’s blind football team to its first ever international trophy. Roy, 39, who was registered blind from birth, told how he was elated to lift the IBSA Blind Football Nations Cup in India last week.
The trophy was claimed by the squad after six games in seven days and a dramatic last-second goal in the final, winning 1-0 against Paralympic silver medallists Iran. And the win represents a remarkable achievement for Roy, who moved to Hull six years ago and has only been able to perceive light and dark since he was a boy. His lack of sight, however, has never got in the way of living a full life.
Always sporty, his childhood was packed with everything from cricket, to judo, swimming and football, and he also toured as a clarinettist with the Liverpool youth orchestra. He was selected for the provisional GB blind football squad for London 2012 and went on to become one of the first English blind footballers to be offered a central contract for funding by the FA.
Last week the Para Lions took the international title following the last gasp goal by Eesa Amjid against Iran, in the final of the IBSA Blind Football Nations Cup in Kakkanad. Roy also topped his goal-scoring tally in the third game, now reaching 58 international goals.
The game is played with all players on the field wearing eye shades and the goalkeepers are sighted. The ball contains a bell or a rattle inside that makes noise when kicked.
Roy said: “It’s been a bit of a dream come true, for the squad as well. There were a lot of challenges leading up to the tournament, particularly around a couple of the players getting visas. Some only got visas two days before – including the guy who scored the winning goal in the last second of the final which clinched the trophy!
“Personally there were a few milestones, I went over 130 caps for England – I’ve got 132 caps now – and I scored three goals in the tournament, and it was my first major tournament after being awarded the captaincy. It was a great atmosphere and we’ve got a great squad there, a great group of people and it all just came together.
“We’ve got to finals before but it’s the first time England has ever won. It was amazing.”
As well as his own sporting excellence, Roy is on a mission to ensure other visually impaired people can enjoy sport and be active, regardless of their age or ability. Having moved from Liverpool to Hull more than five years ago, he has constantly strived to create grassroots opportunities through his role as Socialeyes activity co-ordinator at Sight Support in Beverley Road.
Through his own community interest company, Vision Through Action, he has also just secured one of only a handful of showdown tables in the UK – a cross between air hockey and table tennis, played with a soundball.
The showdown table will form the focal point of excitement at a new weekly games night in Hull, which he says will open up a new sport to local people who would otherwise never get the chance to play.
He said: “It’s always been an area I’m really passionate about. I feel like I’m very lucky because a lot of people don’t have the same experiences I’ve had.
“When I first moved to Hull, I was working for the local sight loss charity and helping with different projects and activities, but more recently I’ve just focussed more on the areas that I’m really passionate about, which is the sport and fitness. I set up Vision Through Action, which is a community interest company, last year and since then we’ve been launching a few different projects.
“We’ve got grassroots football sessions that run monthly on a Sunday. And now we have a game called Showdown. We’re about to launch like a games night, which is more of a kind of the kind of activities you’d find down a youth club or a pub, like pool and table tennis and foosball.
“Showdown is a bit of an answer to that. The tables are a legacy from the World Championships in 2023 which was hosted in England. The organisers decided that they wanted to give local clubs the opportunity to apply to host one of the tables, to build and basically build the game, grow the game in this country. And we applied and we were successful.
“We’ve got one of the tables and we’re launching our first evening sessions at the end of this month at Sight Support on Beverly Road.”
Roy is keen to show that international success can give sport a boost, but he wants it to continue long after the party has ended from the win.
He explained: “I want to bring consistency and something that’s there all of the time. Having competed in the Paralympics I got a lot of questions from people saying, ‘what do you think this is going to mean for the future of people getting into sport?’. And I said the problem, which is still the case to this day, is that we have this four-year cycle and when the Paralympics is on, it’s brought to everyone’s attention that there’s disability sport out there. And then it dies and it gets forgotten about.
“You might get these people at home, parents with a visually impaired child or people with a visually impaired family member, they see these amazing things on the television, but there’s nothing local and nowhere for them to go to start their journey with those sports and activities.
“In this area, I don’t want there to be a situation where someone goes, I’d really like to try this, but then not actually know where to go. I think one of the most important things about sport is – outside of the competitive side of things and winning medals – is what it does for people in terms of their confidence, their mobility, their health and well-being.
“ Anything that makes you feel stronger and more resilient in other areas is very important.”
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