England CP squad to be based at St. George's Park for EURO challenge

England cerebral palsy head coach Andy Smith hopes that his squad being based at St. George’s Park for this month’s IFCPF European Championship could be a key element in their campaign.

The Para Lions will be in action at the tournament, which is being staged at Loughborough University between 15 and 23 August, with games against Northern Ireland, Spain and current champions Ukraine in their group stage.

And with the national football centre in Burton-on-Trent being a short drive away from the tournament venue, Smith’s squad will benefit from the facilities on offer both in their preparations and recovery between games.

“It's great because we're using St. George's Park as our base, which is fantastic for us to use to do the prep work because it’s a world class facility,” he explained.

“We'll make the short journey down to Loughborough for our games but will have our base at SGP for everything inbetween which we’re really looking forward to.”

Ironically, it’s now ten years on from when St. George’s Park hosted the IFCPF World Championship in 2015, the last time England CP participated in a major tournament on home soil.

A number of the current squad played in that competition, when England finished fifth and Smith and the players are looking forward to being able to compete in front of a home crowd and their families.

“It’s great that the players have the opportunity to play in front of their families in a home tournament,” he added.

“It’s the first time we’ve done it since I’ve been involved, so it’s going to be a great experience for everyone.

“It'll also give us an opportunity to showcase some of our talent system as well, as I know there's things in place, maybe pre-game or through mascots as well, just to make sure that we show the good work we're doing underneath the senior programme.

“I think that's really important because the game is definitely growing, and also for all of the other players who play in the CP League it will be amazing.”