Parkinson’s football team eyes international glory

Phoenix 681 FC aims to raise awareness about the disease, but also “takes its football seriously”

A team for people living with Parkinson’s disease is hoping for international success this weekend when it takes part in a competition for people living with the neurological disease.

Phoenix 681 FC, based in Cardiff, is travelling to Norway for the Ray Kennedy Cup, named after the England midfielder who played for Liverpool in the 1970s and who had the disease at the end of his career.

“We’re raising awareness about Parkinson’s, but we also take our football seriously,” said team manager Antony Evans, 51, from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan.

Parkinson’s is a non-curable degenerative condition that affects how the brain communicates with the muscles in the body.

The team began as Wales Parkinson’s Football in 2019, before becoming Phoenix 681 in 2021.

The name Phoenix has “all the usual connotations”, but 681 is the chemical number for dopamine, the hormone that people with Parkinson’s struggle to produce, said Mr Evans, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2015.

“So it’s the reason for all the symptoms that come with Parkinson’s,” he said.

The team began with seven players, but there are now 27 people “with different levels of Parkinson’s”, with ages ranging from their late 30s to their late 70s.

Mr Evans said the club provides “a safe environment for people with the illness”, but described this as “bittersweet” because the disease is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world.

“So there’s a lot of us around,” he said.

However, he said it was encouraging to hear people on the team talk about their conditions together, as well as the numerous challenges they face.

“We often hear about how men don’t talk about their feelings, but here they are doing exactly that – they’re discussing something that’s very hard to discuss, and very personal,” he said.

Mr Evans said most people diagnosed with Parkinson’s “know that something is wrong”, and urged anyone who suspects they may have it to see a doctor.

“So my message would be to trust your own instinct, and try to find somebody who has the condition,” he said.

Phoenix 681 FC are travelling to Norway this weekend for the Ray Kennedy Cup

Stefan Hicks, 44, from Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s last year, which he described as a “very challenging and in many respects lonely time”, despite support from friends and family.

“The team has been instrumental in helping me realise I’m not alone,” he said.

He said that one of the aims of the team is to help keep members active “to slow the progression of the disease”, and that he hoped anyone suffering “perhaps in silence” would get in touch.

The Ray Kennedy Cup, in Moss, southern Norway, has a walking and running competition, and Mr Evans said Phoenix 681 is targeting a win in both.

Their main competition is the “10-times reigning champions” from Denmark, called Stiff Legs.

“I tell you what, they haven’t got stiff legs,” Mr Evans joked.

He said Phoenix 681 played against Stiff Legs in the final in Copenhagen two years ago, only losing 1-0.

“So we quite fancy our chances this time around,” he said.