Matt Crossen: England cerebral palsy captain on culture and change in disability football

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Matt Crossen doesn't the exact moment he suffered the stroke, but his recollection of the aftermath couldn't be clearer. Stripped of the ability to walk, read or write, there was one thing on his mind as he lay in hospital.

"There was something inside me which meant I knew straight away I was going to get back to football: I just knew it," he said.

Ten years on, the former semi-professional - who now captains England's cerebral palsy team - still suffers from pins and needles which sweep the left side of his body. The physical impact of the incident is only one half of the story, though.

Crossen's journey from highly rated youngster to the top of the 'para' game, encoming impairments ranging from partial sight to cerebral palsy, has also been a mental battle.

From dealing with dashed dreams of becoming a professional footballer to embracing his Para-athlete status, Crossen, 34, has undergone a life-changing switch of identities.

This is the story of that transformation, from the trauma of paralysis to a tilt at a title that continues to elude England's men's teams across all forms of the game: the European Championship.

It's a scene eerily familiar to any English football fan: the latter stages of a knockout tournament, hopes riding high and a formidable foe lying in wait.

Except this isn't Wembley in 1996 or 2021. Or Australia in 2023. This is Sicily six months ago, the setting of the cerebral palsy Euros final. And forget images of 11 players waiting pensively for penalties: England only have seven men on the pitch.

Fortunately, this is less to do with breaking rules than it is abiding by the laws of the game. Cerebral palsy teams are made up of seven players, one of a number of adaptations to aid athletes dealing with neurological impairments. The smaller-sided games arguably place an even greater emphasis on the main protagonists. Crossen, England's captain for the past six years, is one. It's a role he relishes.

"I kept saying to the lads throughout the tournament, 'pressure is a privilege'," he told BBC Sport.

"The pressure that we're going to feel isn't going to kill you: it's just something that you should be thriving off."

Crossen's perspective is driven by painful experience. Ten years ago, while speaking to students at a local college, he suffered a stroke that paralysed the left side of his body. Crossen was just 23 years old.

"I completely lost all feeling and it felt like my arm was right in the air, even though I had it across my chest; that's how weird it was," he said.

There were no warning signs. According to Crossen, doctors who ran tests after the stroke were left so puzzled, they were interested in examining the incident as part of a medical study.

The midfielder had already racked up 16 games playing for Northern League side Marske United in the ninth tier of English football when his stroke struck. His return to the pitch - in any form of the game - was far from a foregone conclusion.

During a six-day stay in hospital, Crossen had to learn to walk, read and write again. Remarkably, just a month and a half later, he was back in the gym, preparing to play.

"I was doing a spin class, trying to get my legs and co-ordination going. I was all over the place," joked Crossen.

The England captain says a clear-eyed focus was crucial to the pace of his recovery. For him, there was one goal: playing football.

"That's the only thing that was in my mind," he said, reflecting on his stay in hospital.

"I wasn't even thinking, 'Can it happen again">