Gino King

Gino King is one of the older squad members in the England Men’s deaf team but hasn’t been involved with the sport for as long as most would think. The natural leader has fitted in seamlessly with the project manager Andy Smith has undertaken and I managed to chat with him at their most recent training camp to learn about his journey into the sport.

Joining the deaf football community at a later stage than many would have expected, Gino has had to learn the new game in quick fashion and adapt to communicating in new ways. “I only became aware of deaf football when I was around 24 years old. That was only four years ago so I’ve had quite a short but intensive experience with the deaf game. It has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. I had only interacted with a couple of other deaf people up until that point so it opened my eyes to learning sign language and getting specialist support.”

Before making the switch to deaf football, Gino had played semi-professional hearing football for years to build up his experience and game knowledge. He said “I have played in the Cymru Alliance League and the Northern Counties League after I had played for different academies including Liverpool and Blackburn when I was a kid. I was scouted in a cup game for my school by Fleetwood and I did my scholarship there. That was when I went to Wales before discovering deaf football. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit to deaf football as I would have to travel all over the country out of my own pocket. I gave it a go but at one point I had to walk away for a bit as it was too expensive for me and I struggled to pay for everything. I got back into it luckily and I am so glad I did. I just wish this funding would’ve come sooner as it would’ve helped my journey so much.”

Gino, who now plays for St Johns DFC, can see the huge amount of work he and his teammates put in to make sure that they do everything they can to stay involved with the England setup. It is a lesson he is keen to imprint on deaf children who hope to follow in his footsteps “you should never allow yourself to be told you can’t do something. I have experienced children being told they can’t do certain things or go to certain places because of their deafness, and I always tell them that if they want to do it, don’t listen to the people who say no. If you want to play football with friends or at a good level then it it is up to you. The exposure that the media is now giving us will hopefully help deaf footballers see their how high their quality is and give them confidence. The only limitation there is, is yourself.”

Having seen the levels of ability that his teammates possess, Gino is convinced that fans would enjoy deaf football matches just the same as a hearing game. With little media exposure compared to the EFL and National League, Gino explained “deaf football, when we play to the high standards we can, can be a great alternative to professional hearing matches. If kids or fans can’t get a ticket to see teams like Liverpool or Manchester City, they could come down to watch us to still see a high-quality game of football. The media can help us grow our fanbase and give everyone the chance to watch good football if they covered us more. Deaf kids can watch people like them playing a high level of football and know they could do the same. The deaf community is very close-knit about the team and is very supportive and it would be amazing if the media helped us expand that audience so we can get everyone behind us just like the hearing men’s team.”