The first football team for organ transplant recipients in Scotland is hoping to be the first squad of its kind to represent the country at a major tournament this year.The Scotland Transplant Active Football Team was set up just last year, after Scotland was the only home nation not represented at the inaugural Transplant Football World Cup, which took place in Cervia, Italy, in September.With the European Transplant Football Championship taking place in Oxford this April, the Scottish team is on the lookout for new players to strengthen their chances of success.Existing players have launched fundraising efforts to help them get to the tournament alongside their training.Duncan MacAulay, from Inverness, founded the team initially after he was surprised Scotland did not field a team at the World Cup, which was won by Chile, who beat Spain to lift the trophy, with England finishing third.He contacted Transplant Active, the charity promoting active recovery for transplant recipients.
With the organisation working to develop football as a safe transplant sport over the last 10 years, he wanted to ask why Scotland hadn't been represented so far. Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Speaking to the Daily Record, Duncan said: "I was told, 'Scotland doesn't do football'.
I nearly fell off my chair." He believes a huge contributing factor is a lack of awareness about transplant sport.As a heart transplant recipient himself, Duncan took matters into his own hands.
He set up a Facebook page in September calling for potential players, and started receiving interest.In November, he announced the first training session, which has now become a monthly fixture