Meet Scotland's first ever transplant football team

The 18-member-strong mixed gender team, who have all had organ transplants, competed at the European Transplant Football Championship earlier this year and now have their eyes set on the Transplant Football World Cup 2026.

They train at Bellshill Athletics in Glasgow around twice a month with the club allowing the team to use their training ground and facilities for free.

Players are scattered across the country - and across the Border - from one being up in Inverness and another even living in Norwich. There is also a wide range of ages who are part of the team from 23 to 63.

The club has the aims of giving those who have had a transplant a chance at active recovery while also raising awareness of the benefits of organ donation.

Founder Duncan MacAulay lives in Inverness and works for the fire service.

He received a heart transplant in February 2023 after suffering from multiple cardiac arrests which led to him being fitted with a defibrillator.

Mr MacAulay said: “I not long had my own transplant and then ultimately I saw that there was a Transplant Football World Cup. I really couldn’t believe that Scotland wasn’t being represented.

“Me being me contacted Transplant Support UK and asked why there wasn’t a Scotland team. They said ‘no one’s ever come forward’ and that really surprised me.

“So ultimately I pitched the idea of founding the Scotland Transplant Football team and that was in September of last year.”

It did not take long for the club to kick off as only six months later the team were headed to the Euros.

‘We went to the Euros, the Worlds are next’

Stephen O’Donnell, from Glasgow, spotted a post from Mr MacAulay on Facebook and then decided to join the team in February.

The 44-year-old, who plays in defence, said: “Within a couple of months I was playing in the Euros for Scotland - I don’t think it gets more amazing than that.

“It’s not really often on a daily basis that you get to chat to other people that have been through the same thing too.”

And that is a shared sentiment across the team who all say they are like a big group of friends and share their own transplant stories with each other.

‘We wouldn’t be here without organ donation’

Mr O’Donnell - who received a kidney and pancreas transplant in May 2023 - added: “Organ donation is so important.

“Without organ donation, people like myself, everyone else on the team and everyone who has received a transplant or is waiting for one literally won’t be alive without a new organ whether it’s a liver, lungs, heart or kidney.”

Teammate and goalkeeper Ian Alexander, 34, said he had been unwell since he was three years old. Mr Alexander started dialysis in 2019 for six months before he received a kidney transplant.

He lives in Bellshill, close to where the team trains, and has been a part of the team since the very start.

“If anyone asked me how I felt before my transplant, I’d say I feel great. As my health declined, I just adapted,” he said.

“But it’s completely changed my life. I’m so much fitter.

“With the football team, it’s such a good supportive measure and they’re always there if anyone’s struggling. We’re just like one big family.”

Johnny Fallon Sr., 63, is the team manager and received a liver transplant in October 2021.

He said: “A lot of guys who have had a transplant have actually met their donor’s families or the people who have given them a kidney.

“It’s not really about playing football, it’s also about being the transplant advert. Letting people know that their donors mean so much to us and trying to encourage donors of the future.”

Hunt for young players to ‘carry team into the future’

So, what are the next steps for Scotland’s transplant football team?

The team say they are looking forward to their match against London Transplant United FC on August 31.

Mr MacAulay said: “We’re keen to try and get that younger audience to try and build us and get that promotion for the future.

“I’m personally very keen to have a women’s team and to look at an under 18 team for the future.”