CAFE WEEK OF ACTION 2024

The Week of Action headed by CAFE (Centre for Access to Football in Europe), uses #TotalAccess to harness the power of sport as a catalyst for disability-inclusive change in wider society. For 2024, DADSC and DAFC promoted the work done by The Pars Foundation and local charity Fairway Fife to build the confidence of those with autism or other learning disabilities and make them feel less isolated within our community.

The centrepiece was a half-time match between teams from The Pars Foundation and Fairway Fife at the DAFC v Airdrie match on 5 March. Giving the participants the chance to attend the match and to play on the same pitch as the professionals was a great experience for them and helped enormously with their confidence and self-image.

Before the match, the players, wearing special t-shirts which they got to keep, had pictures taken with the CAFE Week of Action banner and Sammy the Tammy, and at half-time, they played an exciting and entertaining match, which Fairway won 3-1, before being congratulated by the DAFC first team players and then being cheered by both sets of fans in the 5000 crowd as they did a half-lap of honour. The 5000 crowd absolutely loved it, with social media posts afterwards saying that “it was the best half-time entertainment they had ever seen.” More importantly, the players themselves were thrilled by their experience and there is no doubt it will have helped their own self-image and confidence in their own ability to cope with life.

The match was shown live to viewers of ParsTV, and an edited video is on YouTube at