BRITAIN’S most talented amputee footballers will be training in Oxford this weekend, before heading to the Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico.

Oxford City Amputee FC, which was founded in 2012 to promote amputee football in Oxfordshire and the South, will host the GB Amputee Football (GBAF) team in their final training session before travelling to the world cup later this month.

It is hoped an open training session on Sunday at Oxford City FC Community Arena in Marsh Lane will inspire more amputees in the county to join the sport, which now has its own national league.

Oxford City Amputee FC (OCAF) is one of just four clubs in the English Amputee Football Association Currently second in the league OCAF plays against teams from Manchester, London and Lancs & Mersey.

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Several members of the OCAF will be representing Great Britain at the world cup, though only one of them – James Catchpole – is from Oxfordshire.

The Jericho resident and founder of OCAF said he felt the sport, which is played on crutches, helped people come to terms with their amputation.

The 33-year-old literary agent said: “An interesting thing about our sport is that you don’t wear prostheses.

“In a way that’s quite liberating, because by using a prosthesis you’re trying to mask something.

“Without it you’ve got nothing to hide and you play to the best of your abilities.”

Mr Catchpole, also manager of the GB development team, hoped regional clubs like Oxford City would inspire other amputee groups to develop local clubs.

“Since setting up Oxford City, involvement has really taken off."

Player-manager of the GB squad Dave Tweed said: “Oxford is where we base our national development squad and the fight for places in the national team has got tougher.”

The GBAF team will be opening their training session to all amputee’s interested in learning more about the sport on Sunday, November 23, at the Oxford City FC Community Arena, Marsh Lane, between 11am and 1pm.

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