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‘I don’t think there is a better feeling in the world’

EXCITEMENT is building for Eastriggs man Brian Murray as he prepares to captain Scotland at the inaugural amputee football Nations League in Fife this weekend

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By Zac Hannay
Sport
‘I don’t think there is a better feeling in the world’
EXCITEMENT BUILDING . . . amputee footballer Brian Murray, right, has previously captained the Scotland team

The 54-year-old will lead his country out at Dalgety Bay as they kick off the proceedings in group D.

The Scots will face the Netherlands, Albania, Azerbaijan and Kosovo who have all travelled to Fife for the tournament. And the nations will battle it out for a spot at next year’s European Amputee Football Championships in France.

Brian has previously captained the Scotland side, but to lead them to a major tournament would be special.

He said: “We’ve got a squad of 11 players going and we’re also taking our three U16s along as well to be a part of the team.

“This is the first Nation’s League tournament for amputee football. Groups A, B and C are already done and dusted. Ours is the last group to go.”

The team usually train every fortnight, but practices have been ramped up in preparation for the big competition.

Brian added: “We’re quite spread out, so usually what we’ll do is either meet up in Glasgow or Motherwell to train every fortnight.

“For this tournament we’ve trained every Saturday in October. It’s been worth it, the guys are looking fit and doing a lot of work outside of training as well. It’s good to see they are all determined and hungry. “The excitement’s building now. We’re all meeting on Friday afternoon.”

The former Annan Academy pupil lost his leg when he was 11-years-old following a cancer diagnosis. Brian said: “I did play with my pals in Brydekirk with crutches. But I thought when I lost my leg that was my football career gone.

“I played for the school team before I lost my leg and the dream was to play for your club and your country, and now I’m achieving it.”

Brian only found out about the sport in 2015 when he picked up a magazine in a waiting room at a prosthetics centre.

He added: “I saw something in a magazine at the prosthetics centre I went to in Edinburgh. They were advertising a GB team at the time.

“I didn’t even know that amputee football existed. But from when I saw that in 2015 it had been going on for the past 20 years.

“It’s very physical. I broke my collar bone in 2017. I always say to people you’ve got to watch it because you’ll see how physical the game is and some of the speed the guys have got as well.

“Turkey and Poland have professional leagues. This year I went to a junior camp in Poland and helped to coach some of the juniors there.

“After we get this tournament out the way hopefully we can get the Scotland juniors back up and running and I can help coach them.”

Coaching is definitely an option in the future but there are no plans to stop playing at the moment. Brian said: “I’m 54 now, I found amputee football in 2015 and I’m probably fitter than I’ve ever been. “As long as I can keep myself fit I’ll be playing as long as I can.

“I go about the village and go walks with the dogs with my crutches and just the one leg. Beforehand I would wear the prosthetic leg all the time. People probably wouldn’t even realise I had a prosthetic, they probably just thought I had a limp and a walking stick.

“These are things I would never do in the past. I kind of hid my amputation as much as I could. So yeah it’s definitely changed me.”

And when Scotland walk out for their first game on Saturday Brian says the feeling of wearing the captain’s armband will never get old.

He said: “The feeling is amazing, I don’t think there is a better feeling in the world. I absolutely love it.”

You can watch the games and follow for updates at: facebook.com/EuroAMP/ and facebook.com/amputeefootballscotland

Thanks are expressed to H and I Engineering for their sponsorship of Brian this season.

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