WORCESTERSHIRE can boast four representatives in the Great Britain football squad for this summer’s Paralympics in Beijing.

Britain will be represented in the five-a-side blind football competition for the first time by a 10-man squad, including seven athletes from West Midlands.

The team is captained by 27-year-old Worcester athlete Ajmal Ahmed, who is originally from Liverpool.

Ahmed, part of the English set-up for many years, is joined in the squad by Worcester’s Lee Greatbatch, 25, William Norman, 29, and Keryn Seal, 26, of Berkley Alford.

Sighted keeper Jonathan Pugh, 31, who plays for Westfields and hails from Hereford, will also fly out.

The team earned their place at the Paralympics through a silver medal at the IBSA European Championships in Greece last September.

Ahmed said: “We’ve got a few youngsters in the squad but, for everyone, this will be a new experience and one that we are all looking forward to.

“To represent my country at the highest level of my sport has been something that I have always wanted to do since I was a boy growing up in Liverpool.”

There is also a 12-man squad for the seven-a-side competition for athletes with cerebral palsy. Jeff Davis, national football development manager for disability at the Football Association, has made a significant contribution to establishing the British sides.

Davis said: “Both squads have a massive challenge ahead. Great Britain football has not competed in the games for some time and has little experience.

“However, I am confident they are well prepared and will be able to perform at the highest level.”

ParalympicsGB chief executive Phil Lane said: “Britain has not fielded a seven-a-side football team at the Paralympics since Barcelona in 1992 and has never previously entered the five-a-side contest.

“So it’s brilliant to be able to take both these squads to the games to compete in what is one of one Britain’s best loved sports.”

The Beijing games run from September 6 until 17 with the football staged at the Olympic Green Hockey Field.

At Athens 2004, Britain finished second in the medal table with a total of 35 golds, 30 silver and 29 bronze medals.

With competitive standards rising and the dominant Chinese team taking home advantage, the 2008 Paralympics will be one of the biggest challenges yet.