Promotion for football teams that tackle old divisions

FOOTBALL has a reputation for dividing rather than uniting Scottish society. Turf wars between rival fans have led to bloodshed in the past and, even today, team rivalries are hotly stoked on match days.

Sectarian, racist and other offensive chants are ostensibly banned but still pervade supporters' culture. Even the disabled have not been immune, with Rangers' owner David Murray being a particular target of abuse from rival terraces in recent seasons.

So how can this unreconstructed world really foster greater inclusion for the most vulnerable in our society?

Queen Margaret University (QMU) has just been awarded 5,000 from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to find out just how much the sport can promote learning and social inclusion, improve health and enhance the opportunities available to local people in the long term.

The university at Musselburgh, just outside Edinburgh, will share the grant with a community charity set up at Hibernian FC, which has been running a programme for disabled players for the past year.

The Hibernian Community Foundation was set up in 2008, led by former health minister Susan Deacon. It focused on improving health and education and combating exclusion in the local community. With the Lothian Special Olympics, it has run Lothian Hibernian, which saw players and coaches working with local people who have learning disabilities. It provided weekly football training sessions to help improve the health, well-being and self-esteem of those who often feel alienated from society in a bid to break down barriers.

The new study of the project will examine its impact.

The views of the under-19 Hibs players and coaches on whether they feel their people skills and understanding have improved as a result of the project will also be used to inform the expansion of such projects across Scottish football.

Dr Chris McVittie, senior psychology lecturer at QMU, is to lead the research team.

He said: "You would hope that people taking part in the coaching would develop a better awareness of people with learning difficulties of what they can do in footballing terms, but also more widely in terms of what disabled people can contribute to football and support.

"On the other hand we would anticipate that those who take part have some broader sense of being including and being able to do things they wouldn't normally be able to."

The findings of the study will be used by Lothian Hibernian in shaping the project in the future and the Scottish Football Association is also interested in using it to roll-out similar initiatives.

Dr McVittie added: "There might be some lessons to be drawn for sport more widely in ways to include people."

He admitted that football did not seem the natural home of inclusion.

"Certainly there are issues such as sectarianism and that comes to the fore sometimes – very often football is seen as divisive rather than all-encompassing. But part of framing this up as a community initiative, is that it is looking to go beyond that," he said.

"You hope the majority who are less vocal will be open to ideas of inclusion and the participation of everyone no matter who they are."

The study hopes to report by mid-July. More than 50 young adults with learning disabilities have been involved, and players took part in the 2009 British Special Olympics, winning silver and gold medals. Lothian Hibernian has also won medals at the annual Scottish Disability Sport national five and seven-a-side tournaments.

Foundation director Tom McFarlane is passionate about the cause, for reasons close to his heart.

He said: "I have first-hand experience of disability through my son who has cerebral palsy and was involved in football."

His 18-year-old son Connor is now off to Glasgow University to study product design engineering and Mr McFarlane says sport boosted his confidence.

He added: "From the age of 14 Connor went to the monthly SFA sessions at Stirling University just to take an active part, to play football with people with similar disabilities.

"Sometimes when you are in mainstream schooling it is hard for someone with disabilities to get these opportunities and not feel out of place.

"From going along there he got into the CP (cerebral palsy] squad and was selected and played for his country when he was 15, which was fantastic. "Sport has a major impact on self-esteem and being able to play with like people is important. Although it is possible for people with a disability to play mainstream football with able-bodied players, it's still hard, if teenagers are self-conscious, to take that opportunity.

"I've seen young kids come along at 12 and 13 years old, and the pride and look on their face when they pull on a Scotland shirt – it is just incalculable how it makes them feel."

The funding for the research has come from the SFC's Innovation Voucher Scheme, which is aimed at building new relationships between small businesses and universities.