Leeds United stars Josuha Guilavogui and Isaac Schmidt paid a special visit to meet and train with our pan disability team ahead of International Day of People with Disabilities to help raise awareness around the annual event.

International Day of People with Disabilities takes place every year on 3rd December with the main aim of promoting recent and historic successes and achievements whilst also continuing to develop an understanding around issues people with disabilities still face today, especially accounting for their rights and well-being.

Josuha and Isaac both wanted to play their part in celebrating the event, by joining some of our very own Leeds United Foundation stars that train and play in competitive matches as part of our pan disability team. The youngsters train every week with coaches from the club’s official charity, also taking part in monthly fixtures and tournaments as they develop their football skills as well as their levels of confidence and teamwork.

The Foundation is proud to continue offering opportunities for people with varying disabilities to play football, the game we all love, breaking down barriers and providing an inclusive environment around the club and the city. During the recent visit with our first-team defender and midfielder, the young participants were able to showcase some of their skills on the training pitch before asking questions and having photos with their footballing heroes.

Oliver Souter, Lead Disability Officer at the Leeds United Foundation, said: “We are here to celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities, and so we have been with our pan disability football team at Fives, where we do a weekly session every Thursday. Whatever disability they have got, whether it’s physical or behavioural, they are just here to play football and have fun and wear that Leeds United badge.

“It has a huge impact on them (the participants) having the players coming down and showing their support, they will see them and the fact they play for Leeds United and it’s showing these kids that they’re a part of the club and they’re a part of the Leeds United family.”

Isaac Schmidt also spoke to LUTV during the recent visit, and he said: “I was really happy to see the faces of all the kids and really happy to be a part of their session because many people take care of the children, and it was nice for us to help support them. Everyone was happy and we were all taking care of each other, so I was really happy about that.”

Our recent addition to the squad, Josuha Guilavogui, added: “Football is universal, everyone can play football, and everyone can love football and that is why it’s very important to come here and be with these kids because they are just kids, and nothing is more important than for them to have fun and enjoy it.

“For us we didn’t see any disabilities tonight – when we play football, we are all just happy and we forget about our problems and I just hope they had a good time, because we had a good time.”

If you would like any further information around the various disability programmes and initiatives delivered through the Leeds United Foundation, please contact [email protected].