St Johns Deaf Champions League Fundraiser

St Johns Deaf FC is one of the oldest Deaf football teams in the UK, and we are also one of the most successful, having won the Deaf Champions League four times and are well known across both the UK and Europe. Our first team is made up of a diverse group of men with our 'home' at St Johns Deaf Club in Manor House, ranging from the young age of 16 up to 43. These players come from a range of ethnicities and backgrounds, as well as a range of communication methods, from pure BSL to being very oral, and learning sign language for the first time.

In April, we will be flying to Athens, Greece to compete in the 2024 Deaf Champions League, and greatly need support in funding for this. Our DCL team consists of around 30 people, 23 players and 7 officials, and each person plays a vital role within our club. The tournament lasts a week and is entirely self-funded, in comparison to other hearing and deaf international tournaments, in which costs are wholly covered. We would be asking for funding to reduce the personal costs to our players and officials; these would be flights, hotel and travel from the hotel to pitches and vice-versa.

This fundraiser is to support the deaf community within England allowing us to represent how strong Club football is in England. As the deaf community is small, this is a once-a-year opportunity for us to show what we can do. It would be great if we could get some support from other communities especially those that do support football. The tournament is livestreamed from the Quarter Finals onwards, so there is easy accessibility for those who donate to get involved and watch our games!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story, we would thoroughly appreciate any donation, big or small. If you cannot support us financially, it would be amazing if you could share it onwards to reach more people. Again, thank you.

From St Johns Deaf Football Club.