The founder of Scotland’s Amputee Football Association has called on the nation’s public to get behind the inaugural EAFF Nations League in October.
Hosting Group D of the competition, Scotland will be joined by the Netherlands, Albania, Azerbaijan and Kosovo in Fife in what will be the biggest international para-football tournament of its kind to take place in the country.
The matches will take place at Dalgety Bay Sports Centre and Ashley Reid, who is also chief executive of Scottish Para-Football, told the PA news agency: “We’d love for people to come along and support the team and indeed to get a flavour of this exciting and dynamic form of football.
“It’s an enormous coup for Scotland to be hosting an event such as this.
“It is probably the biggest sporting event for para football, disability football of its kind ever to be hosted in Scotland.
“We’ve got teams from countries across the world coming here and I very much hope we’ll put the spotlight on para football general in Scotland.
“It will be a big event. It’s testament to the growth of para football in Scotland, amputee football in Scotland, which was established over the last couple of years.
“We would love as many people as possible to come along over the course of the weekend and support this Scotland team.”
The Nations League is organised by the European Amputee Football Federation (EAFF) of which Amputee Football Association Scotland (AFAS) is a member.
The Scotland squad, made up of 11 individuals each with a lower or upper limb amputation, will face their international counterparts on 26-29 October and 15 matches will be played across three days.
Reid is looking for financial backing for the event which is set to cost the AFAS around £35,000.
She said: “We would be thrilled to discuss opportunities with anyone interested in becoming an event sponsor, or those able to support the event in any other ways.
“Anything with regards donations whether it be bottled water, or snacks, or sponsoring a player or with designing promotional stuff, any help at all, even volunteers.
“We literally are a charity operating with four volunteers.
“It is a huge event for us to pull off but we will do it.
“We hosted our first big international tournament, an invitational event, in November, where we had Belgium, Israel and Ireland over at the Oriam (Edinburgh) we did a great job.
“It was our first ever big tournament and it was fantastic. Hopefully we can really put on show and showcase amputee football at its best.”
Amputee Football Association Scotland was set up in 2017 to create opportunities for those with limb loss to participate in the game.
The organisation is now a Game Leader of Scottish Para-Football, the Scottish FA’s governing body for all forms of para-football in Scotland.
Eighteen sides will take part in the inaugural Amputee Football Nations League, with teams split into four divisions. Each division will play a tournament in a different location on a different date.
Scotland is a host nation, along with Poland, France and Belgium. The team in last place in each group will be relegated to the lower division, with the best team being promoted to the higher division.
Howe taking plenty of positives despite frustrating Newcastle campaign
Eddie Howe was keen to look at the positives after Newcastle United secured seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes were among the goalscorers as Newcastle won 4-2 at Brentford to finish their Premier League campaign.
The victory ensured a seventh-place finish, and a Manchester City victory over Manchester United in next Saturday's FA Cup final will confirm Newcastle's place in next season's Europa Conference League.
While this season did not quite live up to the heroics of last term, which saw the Magpies finish in the Champions League spots, Howe still feels it has been a successful campaign.
"It summed up our season," Howe told BBC Sport. "We weren't totally secure at the back, but great credit to the players. They've done their job - now we wait and see.
"We anticipated after losing against Manchester United that our control of the [European] situation had gone. It's never a nice situation, but whatever happens, happens.
"We have issues to solve defensively. If we can do that, next season could be another season of really strong performances. This was a season that could have been better, but a good season overall.
"We're a really united club. I think we're still moving forward, so there's a lot to be positive about."
Postecoglou will not settle until Tottenham hit his 'lofty ambitions'
Ange Postecoglou warned Tottenham he will not settle until the club hits the "lofty ambitions" targeted in his mind.
Spurs were 3-0 victors over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, ending their Premier League season with a convincing win to finish fifth in the table.
Postecoglou voiced his frustrations after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City ended their hopes of Champions League football next term.
The Spurs head coach was far more relaxed after his side performed well in Sheffield, with Dejan Kulusevski twice on target, along with a goal for Pedro Porro against the relegated Blades.
Yet Postecoglou insisted his ambitions remain high as the Australian attempts to take Tottenham to the next level.
"Contrary to my general demeanour, I have loved every minute of it," former Celtic boss Postecoglou said of his first season in charge of Tottenham.
"It is a great challenge in the Premier League and taking over a big club that didn't have a great year last year. You understand it is not going to run smoothly, but I have enjoyed the whole season.
"I have got some lofty ambitions for the football club and until we reach that point I am not going to be smiling too much.
"As I said, all any manager wants is maximum effort and I have got that from everyone involved. I have enjoyed it and looking forward to pushing on from here."
Asked to summarise his first campaign in England's top league, Postecoglou continued: "It's been good, it's been eventful, it's had a bit of everything.
"I am obviously not delighted with the way we finished the season but in fairness to the players and staff we have been in the top five all season, in a year where there was a fair bit of upheaval.
"We finished eighth last year, player turnover, different football, different way of training, it is not easy to maintain a level when you are trying to do that.
"Even in our tough periods this year we have still been competitive for the most part."
Kulusevski scored his seventh and eighth Premier League goals of the season (36 outings), more than he managed in his first two league campaigns with Tottenham combined (seven across 48 games).
Only in the 2019-20 season with Parma has the Sweden winger scored more times in a league season (10 in Serie A), and Postecoglou hailed Kulusevski's returns.
He added: "I thought Deki was good. He's worked awfully hard this year without a lot of reward in the front third.
"We thought playing him through middle today would help us with his mobility and ability to run in behind. He did well.
"He always works hard but it's that sort of final third where we need him to get rewards and he got them today so he did well."
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
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