England midfielder Rhyce Ramsden admits amputee football has opened doors he did not realise were accessible to him.
The Everton player has just completed arguably the most successful couple of weeks of his life after scoring twice in the FA Disability Cup final victory over Portsmouth, just days after helping the national team win their first title since 1990.
He has already come a long way since getting on his first flight with the England team just six months into his journey in amputee football.
Not one, not two, but three trophies in a week for Rhyce Ramsden who believes he is reaping the rewards for his strength in character on and off the pitch.
— England Amputee FA (@amputeefootball)
“I was 16 and had been playing for six months as an amputee when I got called up to go play in the 2017 Euros in Turkey,” Ramsden told the PA news agency.
“Before playing football I’d only ever been on a plane once and been to one other country.
“Now I travel the world – I’ve been to Europe, I’ve been to America, Mexico, it’s just a bit surreal what has happened. Playing in front of 42,000 in Besiktas’ stadium was a good experience.”
Ramsden sports a floppy centre-parting and headband like Manchester City winger Jack Grealish and, while comparisons were made after his performance at the weekend, there were no post-match celebrations to match the treble winner’s party stop in Ibiza.
“I got asked on Saturday when we won the FA Cup if I was going on a three-day bender, but I was back in work in Monday – that was the biggest reality shock,” he added.
“Someone put out a post saying, ‘It’s the one-legged Jack Grealish’, but I wanted to reply saying, ‘No, he’s the two-legged Rhyce Ramsden’.”
Ramsden was born with a tumour above his right knee which resulted in amputation at five months old.
That did not prevent him playing sport alongside his able-bodied friends, but he admits once he joined the amputee football “family” things changed.
“I used to play football with my prosthetic in net for school and one day a coach came down and showed me a couple of clips of amputee football,” he said.
“I went to a training camp wanting to still be a goalkeeper, but in amputee football you have to be an arm amputee to be a goalkeeper so I had to get used to being outfield and once I started playing outfield I stopped wanting to be a goalkeeper straightaway.
“Even if you don’t play sport there is always a place for you.
“There are kids and adults who have lost their legs recently, who never mind playing don’t think they will walk again.
