A FOOTBALLER whose career could have easily been cut short after he suffered a stroke will captain England during this summer's European Championships.

Matt Crossen, who plays for Marske United, had a stroke aged 23, which left him with limited mobility and no sensation on his left side.

He thought his football career was over until he was contacted by talent scouts from the England Cerebral Palsy squad.

He went on to make his international debut at the 2015 Cerebral Palsy World Championships, which secured the team's qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic games - an event he also competed in.

He will now captain his country in the 2018 European Championships for Cerebral Palsy football, which starts in July and takes place in Holland

"I am over the moon - I can't really explain how I feel," he said.

"At the beginning of everything I never thought I would have got to this.

"With the England captain role, there is always a lot of talking between the players about it, we knew it was going to change.

"The well wishers have never stopped - I never thought I would get this opportunity."

Mr Crossen underwent pioneering treatment at Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital for his stroke, undergoing thrombectomy, or clot extraction.

He was only the second person to undergo the procedure at the hospital.

"My grandad is over the moon, and my friends and family are all really pleased for me," he said."

"It has been nice for my daughter - she is two-and-a-half and we have just got her an England shirt with Daddy on the back.

"She understands what is going on now - she was watching England play the other day and she said Daddy is playing.

England have been drawn with Russia, Ukraine, Finland and Spain for the competition, and Mr Crossen said he expects the toughest test to come from Russia and Ukraine.

"Russia mainly have full-time players who have been in car crashes.

"The last time we played them it was close - so we have definitely got a chance."