In June 2013, the first-ever amputee football match between Holland and Belgium took place in Antwerp. The game was supposed to be friendly, but it turned out to be the exact opposite, after one player tripped the other by grabbing his only leg. As you can see in the video above, the clash quickly turned into a 20-men brawl with players and fans throwing fists, feet and crutches around.The video was quickly spread around the internet but unfortunately that is as far as our collective attention span could go; It's been a year and no media organisation seems to have expressed any interest in amp football since. I caught up with Michael Jacobs, the Belgian team's coach to learn about the ins and outs of amputee football.
VICE: You still have both your legs. How did you become the coach of a one-legged team?
Michael Jacobs: I used to play football in Belgium but failed to make it to the Premier League – although I did play in the First Division. I had to quit when I was 25, as I had already gone through seven knee surgeries. So I became a coach for youth football teams, which I enjoyed. Two years ago, I started the amp football squad thinking I could use all the experience I got as a coach for kids.
Annons
I work at a technical orthopaedic centre – we develop prosthetics and removable shoe inserts. A colleague of mine once travelled for work to Warsaw, where he saw the Polish amp football team play. So we started toying with the idea of starting our own team in Belgium. A whole national team of one-legged players doesn't sound that easy to put together.
It was indeed very hard to find players, as well as sponsors and a place to play. How come?
It has to grow, you know? You have to show everyone that football for people with a disability is glorious. The people that ended up making my team, didn't have an interest in sports before. But we offer them a chance to actually make a difference by being part of a national squad. My players have really bloomed into a group of like-minded people in the past couple of years.
We joined an international tournament in Ireland – it was like a small European Championship with six teams. It was the perfect opportunity to test ourselves and see how we measure against other amputee teams like the Polish, the English, the Germans and the Dutch. How did it go?
We won third place in the playoffs against the Dutch (again) with 1-0!
Yes! After that, we wanted more, so we played another friendly match against the Dutch (again) for the opening of the Disability Games – a global tournament for disabled people. It’s like the Paralympics, but it’s smaller and everyone can participate. Is there anything else you’d like your team to accomplish?
We’d love to go to the World Championships in Mexico this year. No qualifications are necessary for that tournament – you just have to sign up – but we’ll have to see if we can afford it. There are 25 national amp football teams in the world, but only a few can actually afford to go to Mexico. Overall, you and your team seem to do just fine.
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