New powerchair football chairman wants Northampton team to ‘expand’ and ‘enjoy 2024’

The new chairman of Northampton Powerchair Football Club wants the team to become more “competitive” and “play more regularly” this year.

Andrew Pockson has taken on the role of chairman at the club, supported by the Northampton Town Community Trust. He stepped into the role replacing Simon Dodd who had been running the club for around four years.

Andrew’s son, Fin, has a form of muscular dystrophy named ‘Duchenne’. A “life-limiting illness”, which affects some of the players on the team. He has been playing for the team since June 2023.

Andrew said: “All the players are wheelchair bound, but this gives you the ability to run riot in a sports centre in chairs much faster than those going down the street.

“It’s great for people that have a love for football and want to be a part of that community.”

The club is funded by charity donations and sponsorships to afford new equipment and travel costs.

The chairman said: “The problem at the minute is that we only have one new chair, the rest are hand-me-downs and at around £7,000 for a brand new chair, funding one of those is quite a challenge.”

As far as this year is concerned, the club is still training on a fortnightly basis in preparation for the Wheelchair FA cup on January 21 vs Muscle Warriors.

The Powerchair Football Leagues are all FA accredited leaving Andrew to learn the administrative side of the job. He hopes the team will play more “regularly” as training sessions to matches can be “a big step up”.

The chairman said: “We want to play more competitively but most of all we want the players to continue to enjoy themselves.

“The club is a good social network, as you can make friends with similar conditions and as parents we get to talk to parents who have the exact same challenges at home. It is good to meet like minded people.”

Head coach, Jake Leonard, has been at the club since July 2023. Andrew praised him for bringing “structure” and “focus” to training and said that they have seen a “big improvement” since his appointment.

In a statement on X, Jake wrote: "It felt great to be back together after the Christmas break, I am very fortunate that I get to work with a great bunch of people who are all there for the same reason, that being they have a LOVE and PASSION for the sport of POWERCHAIR FOOTBALL."

Jake and Andrew invite anyone to join them for a taster session and welcome anybody willing to sponsor or donate.

Find out more about supporting the Northampton Community Trust and the Powerchair Football club here.