Last Updated on 19/09/2025 by Crip Life
Luke Vosper has had an incredible journey to get to where he is today. From being diagnosed with a severe form of cerebral palsy (CP) and using a wheelchair to defying all the odds to become a footballer for Cerebral Palsy North West FC, the 23-year-old mortgage advisor trainee is now set to represent his club in the upcoming CP football Disability FA Cup final.
The EE Disability FA Cup Finals return to St. George’s Park on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June 2025. The weekend sees some of the best impairment-specific footballers in the country compete in six finals over two days, including amputee, partially sighted, blind, cerebral palsy, powerchair and deaf.
Our editor, Emma Purcell, got the chance to speak to Luke ahead of the final, discussing his journey to the top division of CP football, his preparations for the match against Chelsea, his international debut with Scotland, and his demystifying stigmas around disability football.
Scroll down for the cerebral palsy Disability FA Cup final result, match report and highlights.
The impact of Luke Vosper in CP football
Luke is the most impaired player on the CP North West team. In the last four years, CP football has played a monumental role in his development.
Luke shared what it was like to come from being a wheelchair user to becoming a CP footballer:
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve always wanted to play football from a young age. It was made quite clear to me that it might not be an avenue that I was able to go down. I had countless operations when I was younger, ranging from Botox in my eyes to multilevel surgery on my legs, to essentially twist everything round and point straight.
“I never thought I’d even be able to kick a ball, never mind play for a team, and to do what I’m doing now with CP North West takes my breath away, and it’s still a little bit of a pinch me moment.
“In terms of my disability football career, I started with CP North West. I got really lucky with the manager, Lee. He introduced me as I had a friend in school who knew Lee’s family, so they put me in contact.
“From that, I started playing with the Manchester United Pan Disability team as well, just as a bit of something else to keep me going, and I’m really enjoying it. But with CP North West, it’s been nothing short of amazing.”
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological condition caused by non-progressive damage to the brain, typically resulting in impaired muscle control, coordination, or posture.
CP football is a modified form of association football for ambulant individuals with cerebral palsy or acquired brain injuries (like stroke or traumatic brain injury)
Players are classified by impairment level, with rules requiring inclusion of more impaired players and limiting those with minimal impairments to ensure fair, balanced competition.
Luke explained a bit more about how CP football differs from mainstream football:
“CP football is seven-a-side, it’s smaller pitches, smaller nets, and it just gives us that little bit of room as we have fewer players to manoeuvre, and because we’re not going to be as sharp, not going to be able to return as quickly as all the other players. So it tailors to our needs.”
Cerebral Palsy North West gears up for Disability FA Cup showdown
Cerebral Palsy North West FC has established an outstanding reputation as the premier disability adult team in the Northwest.
Since 2018, the players and staff have worked tirelessly to play the game in the correct spirit, following FA regulations and guidelines and development programs, raising awareness for CP sport as the team takes on the challenge in the CP National League, CP National Cup and the prestigious FA Disability Cup.
The Salford squad is set to face current league title winners Chelsea Foundation in the FA Cup final. In their last meeting in March 2025, Chelsea were triumphant with a 5-0 win against CP North West.
Luke discussed more on how CP North West’s latest season has been and the build-up to the FA Cup final:
“The preparations are going really well. I don’t think the boys will mind me saying we’ve not really had the best of seasons to date. We underperformed in the league, to say the least, but we managed to pull it together in the National Cup. We won every single game there and only conceded two goals.
“We’ve been going from strength to strength recently. I don’t know what, but it seems like something’s finally clicked this year, and hopefully we can carry that on into the FA Cup final as well.”
CP North West players joining Luke in the final at St. George’s Park will include his Man Utd Pan teammate and current CP England player, Jayden Kenyon, and former England development player turned GP doctor, James Roberts.
Chelsea are expected to lineup with the likes of Finn Pitchers, the 18-year-old midfielder who has 15 goals to his name this season, and Tom Page, their ‘rock at the back’ defender.
Luke continued: “Chelsea is a really good side. They’ve got some amazing players, but we’ve got to back ourselves, haven’t we? There’s always a chance. We’re 60 minutes away from winning the FA Cup. The lads have done it before, before I joined the team, and we came up just short. Twice we got beaten by York, and we lost on penalties again the year after. So I think it’s a bit of retribution for ourselves. We deserve it. We’ve worked hard. If we play the way we can, there’s always a possibility, and we are going to show what we can do.”
Luke Vosper: from wheelchair to CP Scotland debut
Luke recently made his debut for CP Scotland and is hoping to make their Euros squad for the international competition in August 2025. He has expressed that going from a wheelchair to playing for Scotland is an outstanding achievement:
“It was surreal. Honestly, it’s what you dream of as a kid, and especially having such severe CP as I do… I never thought I’d be able to get to that situation. It shows that hard work beats everything, even disabilities.
“I’m lucky enough to have been invited down to train with Scotland for the last few months, and we’ve played against England there a few months ago, which I think has to be the highlight overall.”
When asked if he thinks he’ll make the European Championships later this summer, Luke said: “A lad can dream. Currently, I’m really hoping. We’re going to go there and we’re going to show what Scotland can do as well because we’re definitely on the up.”
Calling for change: Luke Vosper on media coverage in disability football
It’s great to see the Disability FA Cup finals are being broadcast on TNT Sports, but Luke does agree that disability football should get more media coverage across the full FA Cup tournament, league fixtures and international tournaments:
“100%, because football at the end of the day is for all, and I think I don’t know if anyone else will have the same outlook as me. But when my friends have come and they’ve watched us… the first thing they’ve said is, ‘Do you know what, Luke? I didn’t expect it to be like that. It’s such high quality’. I think there’s a massive stigma around when you say the word ‘disability’.
“I can understand, in a sense, why people assume that, but we always like to prove people wrong, and we live up to our names in the fact that we’ll always do well.
“We can perform if we’re given the right platform. I don’t see why the league, especially with all the teams in it at the moment, can’t get bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger. It’s massively improved over the years, and from all that we can see, it’s just getting better and better.”
Living with CP and thriving in disability football: a journey of perseverance and advice for newcomers
Despite the incredible turnaround Luke has made to be able to compete in ambulatory football, he admits he still faces challenges living with cerebral palsy:
“Every day I get the aches and pains that come with it… I’m really good at persevering and carrying on. But I’d be very, very naive to say that it doesn’t affect me at all. There are days when I wake up, and I just think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go to work today’, or ‘I’m really sore this morning’. Some things can just creep up on you, but you’ve got to deal with it as and when it comes.”
Finally, Luke gave some words of wisdom to other disabled people wanting to get into disability football or other adapted sports:
“Just throw yourself in the deep end. When I first started, I was very naive about it. I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve played football with all my friends growing up. I’ll be really good here’. I think every single one of the North West lads will say, when I first came down to watch North West train, the first thing I said to a few of the lads was, ‘Oh, I can’t do that’, and it opened my eyes a bit as to the broad spectrum of CP specifically.
“Even in the Pan scene where I went down to train with the Manchester United Pan team, it just really opened my eyes.
“It will educate you a little bit. It will normalise the disability…It’s always nice to have people around you who have the same disability as well. So, my one thing would probably be that it’ll be the best thing you ever do.”
Follow Luke Vosper on Instagram.
Cerebral Palsy North West FC and Chelsea Foundation will face off in the cerebral palsy Disability FA Cup final on Sunday 29th June 2025 at 10:15am live from St. George’s Park and broadcast on TNT Sports.
TNT Sports 1 will feature live subtitles and Sign Language interpretation, while a simulcast on TNT Sports 5 will provide alternative audio-described match commentary.
For free-to-air, highlights will be available on the TNT Sports YouTube channel post-game.
CP North West vs Chelsea Match Report
In an exciting and closely contested cerebral palsy final, CP North West (CPNW) emerged 4-2 winners over Chelsea FC Foundation after a strong second-half performance.
The game started with early pressure from Chelsea, and it paid off in the ninth minute when Charlie Boyce latched onto a cross from Ronan Coyle and calmly poked the ball past the Chelsea keeper into the far corner.
CPNW responded in style in the 15th minute. England Jayden Kenyon scored a stunning equaliser — a spectacular half-volley with the outside of the foot from the edge of the box that flew into the top corner. Despite some nervy moments at the back, Chelsea goalkeeper Jamie Quinnell made a series of important saves to keep the scores level before half time.
The match remained close, but Chelsea edged ahead with a composed finish from Ronan Coyle, slotting the ball into the far post to make it 2-1. However, the lead didn’t last long. At the 45-minute mark, an unfortunate own goal from Chelsea brought the game level again at 2-2.
CPNW took full control in the latter stages. Moments after the equaliser, Lewis Tupman rifled a powerful shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-2. He added another goal in the 51st minute, showing brilliant footwork and calm finishing to seal the 4-2 victory.
CP North West managed the final stages expertly, holding off any late Chelsea push to secure the title. And Lewis Tupman was awarded Player of the Match.
To find out more about CP football, you can visit the CP Sport website and follow on Instagram.