by Kevin Kennedy

Football is truly the world’s game as the UWS Newsroom takes a look at the extremely unique sport of Powerchair Football which allows people with disabilities the chance to experience the sport they love.

Powerchair Football is a sport which is played on a basketball court in teams of 4 with specialized powerchairs that accelerate to top speeds of 10 Kilometers per hour. It still follows some of the same rules as the running game, with contact fowls, corners, penalties, goal kicks and even red and yellow cards!

When you think of Scottish football, you think of Celtic or Rangers. However, you might not think of this rare variation of the sport you’ve come to know. This sport is one of the very few in the world which allows the chance for powerchair users to compete in football. Powerchair football in Scotland, has it’s own competitive league with seven teams nationwide and it’s own national team setup.

We got the chance to speak to Powerchair Football’s equivalent of Andy Robertson, Scotland Captain, Colin Shields, as he talks about his experiences in this para-sport.

“Powerchair football gives people in powerchairs the chance to play a team sport.” He continued, “In a powerchair, there’s not a lot of team sports out there. It’s good for mental and general health and I gets you meeting people.”

Just like the Scotland national men’s team, the Powerchair Football national equivalent have also tasted recent success in qualifying for their first Euros event in Paris summer 2025. Colin also spoke about the origins of the national team and how it came to be.

“It was in collaboration with SFA and the Scottish Powerchair Football Association.”…”The national team flourished in 2018, when we had the Scottish Powerchair Football selection process.” He went on to say “We’ve now got a pathway into the national team with a development and a first team.”

The Scotland Captain also outlined the aims and ambitions for the future of the sport. “The hope is we establish more clubs”…”The first protocol is contacting the Scottish Powerchair Football Association to see if there are any clubs near you. Colin concluded with “I think it gives the wider disabled community a sense of community, if you like.”

To find out more about the sport, click below: