Long career full of highlights for pioneering Wolverhampton footballer as he celebrates hall of fame honour

Wolverhampton-born Paralympian Darren Harris made his debut for England's blind team in 1996 and went on to make 157 appearances, scoring 34 goals and winning 10 medals across European and international competitions.

Harris was inducted into the hall of fame at the National Football Museum in Manchester during the Para Sport Awards on Friday, December 5.

The 52-year-old, who grew up near the Chapel Ash area of Wolverhampton, took up football after he was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a type of cancer that left him blind, when he was 15 months old.

He said: "As I got older, my sight just kept getting worse and worse and I do think that if I had used my eyedrops more, it might not have deteriorated as quickly.

"I was going for my annual check-up and they were telling me that my sight was getting worse and there's nothing they can do about it, so as a young lad, I just stopped going as no news is good news and if I'm going to hear is bad news, then what's the point in going?"

Harris' sporting aspirations began during his time at New College Worcester, a school for students with visual impairments.

He had studied maths at university and began a career in information technology before he took the sport back up.

He said that while it was an honour to make his debut for his country in 1996, it wasn't exactly a success.

He said: "I was a substitute and while the coach told me he was going to put me on for two minutes, he took me off more or less straightaway as I was that bad.

"It was because I had that little bit of light perception and putting on a blindfold was completely disorientating, so I was bumping into my team mates, the opposition and the boards, so they took me off for my own safety.

"Being selected was a proud moment though, and I'll always remember my first training camp and having the hunger and drive to make sure I was better than everyone and get a place in the team."

Despite this initial setback, the Wolverhampton-born star became captain in 2002, six years after his debut, and helped this side qualify for the Athens Paralympic Games in 2004.

He later began training full-time in Judo, competing at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, before returning to football to play at the London Paralympics in 2012.

Since his retirement, Harris has worked as a motivational speaker, performance consultant and inclusion advocate, championing accessibility.

He said that while it had been a tough road to retirement, he said he felt he had done it on his own terms and he was very proud of what he had done.

He said: "When I came back for that last run, I thought about how I wanted to finish on my own terms and I worked really hard for those two years and played some of my best football.

"It's recognition of sticking at it, day in and day out, doing the boring bits and being able to still enjoy it."