Football may be the national game, but until recently children living in Gravesham who suffer from a disability were deprived of opportunities to take part.

That all changed when Gravesham Borough Football Club (GBFC) set up the borough’s first team for disabled children, and last weekend they enjoyed their full debut in the Kent Disability League.

Having decided upon the team name of The Dolphins, the boys performed well in the five-a-side under-11s fixtures against four other sides in Maidstone, claiming two wins.

For manager Joanne Hiscock, it was a result to be proud of after months of hard work on the training field.

“We have been working for quite some time and it’s a really good news story because these are boys who otherwise would not be able to play sport,” she said.

“Parents have been really nice about what we’ve been doing. The message has been that their children weren’t able to play sport and were sad about it, so we’ve been working with Ifield School to get this up and running.”

Ifield School is fully catered for youngsters with a disability and four of the five Dolphins are pupils there. Autism, epilepsy, and learning difficulties are among the disabilities they suffer from.

They train every Saturday and will be playing against other sides once a month.

In addition to giving the boys a chance to do something they would otherwise not be able to, the plan is also to integrate them with the club’s other youth teams.

“My boys train with them on a Saturday so they’ve got that integration with other children,” Joanne continued.

“It gives my boys an understanding of what it’s like to live with learning difficulties and other disabilities.”

GBFC would like to set up more disability teams in different age groups, including a girls’ team.

If your child would like to get involved, visit the club website graveshamboroughfc.co.uk or call Joanne on 07807204668.

Correction: This story originally mistook Ifield School for Istead Rise School. We apologise for the error.