Will Ramsay is part of the England Cerebral Palsy squad aiming for success in the World Cup, which starts in Salou this week.

The Para Lions will take on Japan, Canada, Brazil in Group B before potentially progressing to the knock-out stages.

After the FA launched the 2024-2028 grassroots strategy this week, we caught up with the forward to discuss the tournament and how his disability affects his football.

Hi Will. How are the group feeling ahead of the World Cup?

“It's good. We’ve been preparing for a long time. I was delighted to be selected. I’m an FT3 and because you can only have one of them on the field at once the coach didn’t need to take as many. I had to do more on my part to give him a hard decision to make.

“I’ve had to make sure I put good performances in and be at the top of my game all the time.”

You’re still a young player but have been around for a while now. How much are you still relishing the England experience?

“I think I came in just before COVID, when I was 16, and it’s been basically the same group bar a few players coming in and out. I’ve grown into the team. As a 16-year-old coming into the men’s team it’s going to be hard, and then we had lockdown, but in the last two years it’s been a lot more positive.”

Join our England Cerebral Palsy team at St. George's Park as they prepared for the @ifcpf World Cup, which gets under way in Salou on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/4GknM8UFRk

— England (@England) November 5, 2024

What are your ambitions as a player?

“Obviously being an FT3 I guess I’m the least affected in the team so I’ve got to be on my A game all the time. It’s all about staying in good form and making sure I keep my spot heading into the World Championship. And, obviously, I want to win silverware with England. That’s the aim over the next couple of weeks. At my first tournament last year we won the silver medal and scored as well. I feel I can use that experience to help the team.”

What do you think the team are capable of at the tournament?

“It’s going to be tough. I think if we can all stay fit we have a chance because technically and tactically we're there as a team. We can go past players, we can pass the ball around. If everyone's fit and focused, we can beat the top teams.”

How did you first get into CP football?

“I never played CP football as a kid. In terms of my appearance, I never got asked about it and I was quite dismissive of it. I just played mainstream to as high a level as I could.

“Then I got into CP swimming and athletics from 12 and I was doing that to quite a high level. And then I came across football coaches and saw the level of the football. I watched the World Cup here in 2015 and then I started in the national programme. I progressed through the development team, into the under-21s and then into the senior squad by 16.

“I was still new to the sport from a tactical point of view because I'd never played CP football. I was used to 11-a-side and offside. It can still be a challenge for me now because I still play mainstream football for Guildford at Step 5 and have to flip between the different sets of rules.”

Are there ways in which CP does affect your physical ability in football?

“I think it's more psychological. When I was younger I just always dismissed it because people would just say I don’t look disabled.

“I’ve worked to understand it more since then but I think it's just more the processing of the cognitive side.”

How glad are you that you did choose to get involved and pursue this as well?

“Yeah, 100%. At the end of the day, I've always wanted to play football. Obviously, as a kid, I never thought I would have played to such a high level for my country.”