'Our Para players are so proud to represent England and we are so proud of them'

I believe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is about celebration.

It is a chance to celebrate what people with disabilities can achieve.

It is a day aligned with what we try to achieve within the Football Association’s Para programme: individuals unlocking their talent and fulfilling their potential.

It is about achieving success through players maximising their potential, which is no different to our mainstream footballers.

You only have to look at the passion shown by our Para England players. The pride they have in wearing the Three Lions is no different to our mainstream players.

I think the stigma around their disability is removed when playing football and in particular when representing their country.

We take pride in the level of support we give the players in terms of staffing levels, the facilities at St. George’s Park and the way we approach tournaments, and I think the players recognise they are treated exactly the same way as the players in any of our England teams.

Some of the Para tournaments might not be as high profile as the men’s or women’s competitions but hopefully we will get there one day.

Alongside some of the other national associations, like US Soccer, I believe we’re leading the way in the professionalism of our Para programme and in the way we are trying to influence disability football’s international federations.

We are taking a bottom-up approach to securing more advocacy, investment and better structures around the game internationally but I’d love to see the worldwide and regional governing bodies like UEFA and FIFA get more involved with disability football at the elite end.

There is some great work being done at the lower levels around introducing more people to disability football and the creation of disability strategies but it would be great to see more investment and focus around para football across the world.

This year has seen the FA introduce a new model where instead of having the seven para teams under our remit working in isolation, we have a multi-squad model designed to share practice across all of our great coaching staff and practitioners.

More importantly, we wanted to introduce the new model to create a ‘One Para England’ focus where the players all mix together and culturally it has been fantastic.

We are meeting more frequently, having an increased focus on physical development and improving the way we plan for tournaments.

On the pitch, we have medalled at four major tournaments and whilst there is always context in each situation, we have done well and I expect to see improvements year in, year out moving forward.

We had finals where they could have gone either way, we had a final where we were some way off and there were several other tournaments too, and what they have all done is given us a benchmark for where we are at and where we need to be in the future.

Having been around it for the last 23 years, I have taken a lot of pleasure in seeing the programme evolve as a whole and I have particularly enjoyed seeing the journey of our young players.

We have seen several players go from attending talent identification events at their local county football associations, working their way through the talent pathway and then starring for England at major tournaments.

When it comes to next year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I would love to have seen a change in the way some groups perceive individuals with a disability.

We need to remove the stigma that having a disability means someone can’t do something.

Our Para programme and our England Para Lions have shown those with a disability can play at the very highest level of their respective impairment-specific game.

I believe our England Para teams can be a tool within sport and across the country to challenge perceptions within wider society; be a force for change and help educate people.

These players might have faced adversity growing up at school and in many cases may continue to do so but when they cross that white line, with the Three Lions on their chest, that is forgotten. They are so passionate and so proud to represent England. And we are so proud of them.