Harrow Mencap in 2005 secured funding from the Football Foundation to give people with learning disabilities in the Harrow area the chance to play the beautiful game.

The charity’s team is called Harrow Stones Stars FC, named by the players themselves.

Project partners include the Middlesex County Football Association and local non-league team Wealdstone Football Club, whose blue and white quarters kit the team play in.

“We want our players to feel that you can enjoy football even if you have never kicked a ball before. It’s about having fun,” said Simon Heaney, Harrow Mencap’s football club project worker.

The team has had some success already, winning a mini-World Cup tournament in 2006 and coming second in the STEP five-a-side Fun League in the 2005/6 season.