James Blackwell (footballer)
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James Blackwell (footballer) | |
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| Born | 1986 |
| Nationality | England |
| Occupation | Footballer |
James Blackwell (born 1986) is an English footballer for the England CP football team. He played in the 7-a-side football event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.[1]. Blackwell suffered a broken neck prior to the tournament and was told he was luck to be alive let alone walking
Football
Despite being born with cerebral palsy, Blackwell always played mainstream football to a high level and was selected for the South West of England schoolboy football team aged 14.
Blackwell only found out about Paralympic football whilst playing against Ibrahima Diallo (Paralympic footballer) in a Gloucestershire County Football League match and spoke to Jeff Davis (https://www.thefa.com/news/2015/mar/11/james-blackwell-cerebral-palsy-world-championships) to find out more.
In 2013, Blackwell was watched in a friendly for Kingswood AFC against local rivals Wotton Rovers where he scored 2 goals and was invited to train with the England CP team at Lilleshall and has been a key member of the squad throughout.
In 2014, he was a member of the England team that came 5th in the European Championships in Portugal (https://www.ifcpf.com/static/upload/raw/96dbcf49-2201-4af4-9731-c40e0f82a667/Competition+Results+Report+-+2014+CPISRA+European+Championships.pdf)
In 2015, Blackwell scored 6 goals to help England qualify for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio. England beat Ireland to finish 5th at the World Championships held at St Georges Park. Shortly after the tournament, Blackwell suffered a broken neck in the 1st game of the season for Kingswood AFC.
References
External links
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