DERBY Paralympic football star Leon Taylor will be playing at St George's Park today in a national competition to raise money for charity.
Mr Taylor, 38, who represented Great Britain in Beijing in 2008, is playing at the FA's National Football Centre in Burton in the National Cerebral Palsy Cup – in what will be his last competitive appearance.
Mr Taylor, of Chaddesden, said: "This will be the last competition that I'm going to play in because my knees are giving up.
"My knees are OK at the minute, but I don't think they can last too much longer at a professional level.
"I am really excited at the prospect of being cheered on by my friends and family one last time."
But Mr Taylor said he would still be involved with the East Midlands Cerebral Palsy Centre of Excellence in a mentoring role as he strives to uncover the next generation of CP footballers who may one day go on to represent their country.
He said: "I wouldn't give up my role completely at all. I love working with the young people.
"At the moment there's one of my youngsters representing England in a competition in Canada and it's important to be encouraging young people to excel in sport.
"The centres are amazing and have helped nurture skills in youngsters who might not have thought they had any special skills.
"It's important we use the legacy of the Olympics and strive to get more young people into sport."
While at the ground today, Mr Taylor will be offering the chance for people to have their photographs taken with his Olympic torch, for a small donation to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry).
He said: "I kept my torch and I want to do something amazing with it rather than have it just hanging around.
"This seems like an amazing thing to do as loads of people are interesting in the torch."
The charity, which promotes cardiac health in young people, is close to Mr Taylor's heart after the death of Reece Jeffrey, age 15, the son of a friend.
He said: "I found out about the charity a couple of years ago, when I was working at Derby Homes.
"Reece's mum worked with us and it hit us all hard. The work that the charity does is incredible and I want to carry on supporting it.
"It's so important people are aware of the risks and to know what to look out for. I wanted to put my Olympic torch to good use and this seems perfect."
The competition at St George's Park, in which Leon is appearing in goal for the East Midlands team, starts at 11am and is due to finish at 3pm. Spectators are welcome.
