GARY NEVILLE has forked out £20,000 to help Great Britain’s men’s and women’s deaf football teams secure their place at the Deaflympics.
The teams needed to raise the cash to put down as a deposit for next July’s competition, the biggest multi-sport event for deaf athletes, in Turkey by the end of this month.
The former Manchester United and England defender made the donation in response to a tweet from GB Women’s captain Claire Stancliffe.
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She tweeted him afterwards: “You don’t know how much this means to me and the team.”
Despite the large sum from Neville, a further £105,000 is still needed to cover the cost of travelling to the event and the training camps for the each respective team.
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Deaf sport is not funded by UK Sport, therefore in order to participate in this year’s Deaf World Cup, donations from the Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland, England women’s players Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze and the foundation run by Liverpool’s James Milner helped the squads reach their fundraising target.
To be eligible to compete in deaf football competitions, players must have an average hearing loss of 55 db or more in their best ear.
Additionally, players must remove all hearing aids before competing, which can affect an individual’s balance.
Stancliffe told BBC Sport: “For the last nine years since I made my international debut, I’ve had to fundraise every year just to represent my country, let alone pay for all the training I have to do.
“It does get tiring and sometimes you do feel like just giving up.
"But there's just something that makes me keep fighting. I can't give up something that has ultimately made me who I am today.
"If I didn't have the opportunity to play with other deaf players, I would be lost. No one can fully understand deafness unless they have been through it themselves."
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