���˿���

Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard have donated £5,000 each to help England's Deaf Women's football team fund their way to the World Championships.

The team need to raise £100,000 to be able to compete at September's tournament in Malaysia.

The no longer funds the 11-a-side team after switching funding to the futsal team.

"It's really nice of them and nice to have that support," said England player Claire Stancliffe.

Neville, the former England and Manchester United right-back, previously donated £20,000 in 2017 to help send the Great Britain team to the Deaflympics in Turkey.

Stancliffe told ���˿��� Radio London she only contacted Neville to ask him to share their appeal details when he made the offer.

And other high-profile figures are lending their support to the campaign too - England and Everton defender Conor Coady is among those to have shared posts about the campaign on his social media pages.

When announcing the funding change last month, the FA said it wanted to provide more regular international opportunities for players and that the decision had been made following conversations with players and staff and the wider deaf football community.

"I'm really disappointed in the decision but at the same time I respect it, I'm just trying to focus on what we need to do now to get the team there," said midfielder Stancliffe, 34.

The Deaf World Football Championships take place from 20 September to 8 October 2023.