
What is Blind and Vision Impaired Football?
Vision Sports Ireland is promoting football as part of the “Football for All” programme run by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). There are opportunities for both partially-sighted players (B2/B3) and for fully-blind (B1) players.
Below you will find details of all our blind and vision impaired football opportunities throughout the county.
B1 Blind Football
A B1 team plays on an artificial pitch outdoors with low-level boards forming walls along the side of the pitch. All players must wear block out goggles so that all are equally blind during play. Sighted assistants call instructions from behind the goals. The ball contains a number of ball bearings and therefore emits a sound as it moves about the pitch. In both cases, the teams play with a goalkeeper with good/normal eyesight.
Vision Impaired Football
Vision Impaired footballers play indoors and there are minimal differences in the rules from those that apply to the standard game of Football. The key difference is that there is a minimum number of B2 players required to be on the pitch at any one time during the game. This game is played using a normal indoor Futsal ball – with high visibility being an option when available.

Programme Information
There are currently the following programmes in place, however we are always recruiting new players. We plan to add more venues in 2023.
- Junior Dublin VI/Blind Hub – Fortnightly training sessions at Inspire Fitness Cabra from 1-2pm.
- Junior Portlaoise VI/Blind Hub – Fortnightly training sessions at Portlaoise AFC from 11.30-12.30pm.
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- Adults B1 Team Dublin – Training information to follow.
- Adults B2/B3 Futsal Team Dublin – Training information to follow.
New players of all ages and abilities welcome.
Contact
Vision Sports Ireland, NCBI, Whitworth Road, Dublin 9.
Sean Poland, Vision Sports Ireland
Phone: 0860129928 | Email: visionsports@ncbi.ie
Dublin Junior Hub, Bohemians F.C.
James Flanagan, Head Coach
Phone: 085 785 5771 | Email: accessofficer@bohemians.ie
Portlaoise Junior Hub, Portlaoise A.F.C
Ger Brown, Head Coach
Phone: 086 071 7301 | Email: gerbrown1978@gmail.com