Leeds Trinity University open facilities to trophy-chasing Farsley Celtic Deaf Football Club

The team will be playing in the England Deaf Football (EDF) Championship League final at St. George’s Park, the Football Association’s national football centre in Burton-upon-Trent, on Sunday 25 June as they look to defend the title they won for the first time a year ago.

Following the final, Farsley Celtic Deaf will travel to Warsaw in Poland to compete in the Deaf Champions League for the first time between Monday 26 June and Saturday 1 July, taking on opposition from across Europe including clubs from Paris and Istanbul.

To help the players get ready for a week which could see them add two more trophies to the EDF Challenge Cup they have already won in the 2022-23 season, the School of Sport and Wellbeing at Leeds Trinity, alongside the University’s Trinity Fitness sports centre, made the on-campus facilities available to them. 

Matt Dixon, Assistant Manager at Farsley Celtic Deaf FC said:

“The fact that Leeds Trinity reached out to us to offer their support is massively appreciated. Our club has worked hard over the last two years and have been very successful on the pitch, but having access to the University’s sports facilities only increases our chances of performing well and winning. 

“We remain unbeaten in deaf football so far this season and are looking forward to playing in front of the BT Sport television cameras in the final at St. George’s Park this Sunday. The following day, we fly out to Poland to compete in this year’s Deaf Champions League which is an amazing opportunity for us and everyone at the club is working incredibly hard towards ensuring we experience more success and bring the trophies on offer back to Yorkshire. 

“We would like to thank Leeds Trinity for their support in helping us prepare and Farsley Celtic Deaf Football Club look forward to working in partnership with the University in the future.”

Nicola Arjomandkhah, Associate Professor (Teaching and Learning) at Leeds Trinity said:

“We wanted to reach out to Farsley Celtic Deaf Football Club as they are a local team who we are so proud to see doing well. All the staff in the School of Sport and Wellbeing wish them the best of luck for their upcoming EDF Championship League Final game and the Deaf Champion League tournament straight after.”

 Leeds Trinity and the Farsley Celtic Deaf team are looking at other potential future projects to collaborate on that would see players given access to sports science support, and students at the University given the opportunity to put their studies into practice.

Chris Sellars, Head of School of Sport and Wellbeing added:

“We are delighted to support Farsley Celtic Deaf Football Club as part of our commitment to work with a range of local, regional and national sport organisations. In addition to supporting such a worthy team, this type of collaboration offers the potential to provide valuable opportunities for students in the School of Sport & Wellbeing to gain exciting and worthwhile experience working with sports clubs and performers. This type of opportunity is central to our strategy to provide ‘real-world’ student employability experiences.”

To find more information on the Sport and Wellbeing courses available at Leeds Trinity University, visit the website.