This promising young footballer went blind at the age of 7 - watch his remarkable story of courage

Meet our 2019 Pride of Sport Young Achiever Mikey Poulli.

Mikey, from north London, always dreamed of becoming a professional footballer and loves going to Arsenal matches with dad, John.

In 2016, Mikey, then six, went for a routine eye test. But despite near perfect vision, the optician noticed something wasn’t quite right. Further tests revealed he had a rare eye condition, rod cone dystrophy.

The disease meant his vision was gradually closing in but specialists thought it would take between 10 and 20 years for Mikey to lose his sight. However, within a year of diagnosis, he was completely blind.


Dad John said: “All he wants to do is play football. Before he knew about his vision, he would say: ‘I want to be a professional footballer.’ When he was losing his vision, he would still say: ‘I want to be a professional footballer.’”

Refusing to let blindness stop him playing football, Mikey started attending sessions at Tottenham’s Centre of Excellence which has a specialist visually impaired football programme.

There he was scouted by coach Oliver Monksfield. John continued: “He took one look at Mikey and the next day I got a call from Oli saying he had contacted the FA. He said he had so much ability and potential.”

Mikey is now training with England coaches after being earmarked as a potential star in B1 football for blind people

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