SIERRA Leone’s lions…
Amputee footballers from the impoverished African country have been celebrated in an astonishing set of pictures that showcase their love, against the odds, for the beautiful game.
The stunning photography was captured by Pastor Abraham Bangura, coach of the Single Leg Amputee Sports Association football team on a disposable camera for the Goal Click project.
Goal Click was set up by Matthew Barrett and Ed Jones in 2014 to explore football cultures from around the world with breathtaking imagery.
Their aim is to send disposable cameras to every country in the world, chronicling what football means to them through photos.
The SLASA team, which features stars missing multiple limbs, can be seen enjoying a game on Lumley Beach in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
SLASA were founded in 2001 at the end of the decade long civil war in Sierra Leone and they run a football programme for amputees.
There are currently six teams throughout the country participating in the national Amputee Football League, as well as a national team.
The game is played with seven players per side and crutches.
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The photos of the amputees are incredibly powerful, demonstrating that football is an important way to help them overcome their injuries and re-integrate into society.
The mental and physical strength of the amputees is inspirational to anyone who sees them play.
Pastor Bangura believes that having a disability shouldn’t hinder you from playing the beautiful game to a high-standard.
“One of the main things I was trying to showcase is that disability is not inability,” he told Goal Click.
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“Even though these guys are disabled, at the same time they have the ability to do what able bodies can do.
“Another thing I was also trying to show was that we have able-bodied footballers back in Sierra Leone who are professionals. They can play good football.
“There is a Sierra Leone player called Alhassan Bangura who played for Forest Green Rovers and is now at Nuneaton Town.
Goal Click: In their own words
Goal Click is a global football photography project, helping people understand one another through football. The idea is to find one person from every country in the world and send each of them a disposable analogue camera. The photographers take photos of football that symbolise their country or personal story.
Goal Click shares compelling stories from around the world by giving people a chance to show what football means to them and their country. Football means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But it always means something.
You can follow the Goal Click journey on Instagram @goalclick or Twitter @Goal_Click
“We want to showcase that the Banguras in Sierra Leone are talented. We have others playing for the national team and we want more.”
The Pastor, an amputee himself, revealed the heartbreaking story of how the idea came about.
He said: “In 1991 the war broke out in our country and some of the boys who are today playing for the national team and SLASA, they loved football before the war.
“So for us to turn their pain into power, we needed to start this amputee football.
“There are times I think about the senseless war that took place in our country, it makes me want to shed tears.
“In 1995 seven young children, including my two brothers, were playing with a hand grenade, an explosive used in war.
Why were they playing with this hand grenade? These kids never knew what they were doing.
So I saw it, it was about to explode; I took this hand grenade and went to throw it away.
Rather unfortunately for me the hand grenade exploded and I lost two of my fingers.
Having lost two fingers I saw these boys, who are now the amputee side, playing football with one leg and goalkeepers with one arm.
And I said to myself; I think as a Pastor I need to give them counselling.
So I started giving them counseling. Not until 2010 when I came to the UK did I do my coaching course.
So as somebody who has been affected by this war, I wanted to share my ideas and what I learned in the UK, go back home and implement that to the amputees.
Bangura is proud that SLASA started amputee football in the Sierra Leone, passing the baton on to other African nations to do the same.
“SLASA is the organisation that started amputee football in the country, and SLASA is the organisation that moved amputee football into Liberia,” he said.
“It was SLASA that taught Liberia’s amputees to play football. It was SLASA who organised the first regional amputee tournament in Sierra Leone.
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“In 2014, our 53rd anniversary of independence, the President of our country awarded SLASA an award as a sports team that is taking peace to different nations.
“You can see that what SLASA is doing is improving the lives of these young lads and also improving the capability of amputees.
“We are not just teaching them about football, we are also capacitating them, such as giving them loans to do microfinance.”
The aim of the SLASA, Bangura said, is to build the best amputee team in the world.
“We want to see the amputees coming out on the streets, with skills, and then be somebody in society that society will recognise,” he revealed.
“In addition, we want to see that SLASA will be the best amputee team in West Africa!
“And in the world, we want to see SLASA amongst the first three countries in football.
“We have many rivals though – Uzbekistan, England, Brazil, Turkey, France, and Russia. In Africa we have Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria.”
Bangura is confident the photos show how important the work the SLASA is doing in helping amputee players compete.
And with amputee football being considered by the International Paralympic Committee for inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Games, they’re on the right track.
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