About the League

We are the National Visually Impaired Football League.  Formed in 1980 we have provided a competitive and friendly environment for visually impaired footballers, over the age of 16, to participate, compete and develop their skills.  In many cases our players also go on to pursue full international honours with their national FA’s partially sighted squad. 

In the late 1990’s our league became part of the British Blind Sport (BBS) ‘Football Section’ and we now compete under the ‘BBS VI Football League’ banner.  We also receive a great deal of support from the English Football Association (The FA).

We compete from October to April each year in a series of tournaments held throughout the UK.  The points scored at each tournament are accumulated throughout the season with our champions crowned at the end of April following a long but enjoyable season!

We attract clubs from across the UK ranging from those formed by groups of players, others representing academic institutions and an increasing number of professional football league clubs whose support is invaluable to our efforts to promote visually impaired sport.  You can read more about the participating clubs from the Teams section of the site. 

We play the 5-a-side Futsal rules of the game on indoor pitches.  This is the form of the game played all over the world and increasingly in the UK. 

We are committed to bringing true ‘association football’ to visually impaired people so there are no rule changes from the ‘able bodied’ game, but all coaches and referees are fully qualified and experienced at working with people with a genuine visual impairment. 

To participate, all players must be registered visually impaired/partially sighted with social services.  More information about how to do this can be found in the league admin section of this site.

We run and organise our events through a Management Committee.  This committee is staffed entirely by volunteers elected annually by the participating clubs.  The Committee is responsible for organising all VI league events, ensuring all safety standards are adhered to as well as enforcing the league rules and codes of conduct. 

Meet the Committee

Chair: Paul Arnold

Paul was elected Chair in 2007 having previously been Chair of one of the participating clubs, and before that, having competed in the league for 15 years. Paul’s also a nice bloke and all round good egg, but he would say that – he’s writing these profiles!

chair@visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk

Vice-Chair: Howard Smith

Howard has served on the committee as both Chair and Vice-Chair for many years as well as having played in the league itself for more years than many can remember. Howard is currently also a member of the West Bromwich Albion squad.

vice-chair@visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk

Secretary: George Ferguson

One of the prolific ‘Ferguson twins’ George has been involved at the highest level of VI sport for many years. George has picked up numerous league titles and international honours during a 20 year playing career that’s still going strong. George has been the driving force behind many developments in VI football and anyone who knows about VI football will recognise the name ‘George Ferguson’.

secretary@visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk

Treasurer: Mick Smalley

Mick has been involved with the VI league for many years as treasurer, referee and also as coach of the all conquering Loughborough Lions outfit. Mick has done a great deal for VI sport over the years and continues to do so by keeping track of our finances!

treasurer@visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk

Publicity Officer: Mike Ferguson

As the other half of the ‘Ferguson twins’ Mike has also had a long and illustrious career with numerous international honours and national league titles. More recently Mike has qualified as a referee after his playing career was cut short through injury. As publicity officer for the league Mike is responsible for painting pictures with words as the man behind most of the ‘reports’ on this site.

publicity@visuallyimpairedfootballleague.co.uk

If you have a general enquiry for the VI Football League please visit the contact us page.