Hereford-based England blind football team coach Tony Larkin has been sacked by the Football Association.

Larkin has paid the price for failing to lead England, or Great Britain, to a win against any of the sides ranked above them since 2009. Larkin's assistant-coach, Jon Pugh has also been removed from his role.

Jeff Davis, FA national disability officer, said: "The real problem was ever since 2009 when they beat Spain in the semi-final of the European Championship.

"The team has drawn a lot of games and have not been able to turn draws into wins. We felt we needed a change.

"It's a culmination of results over a period of time and, at the Paralympics, we could not turn draws into wins over Spain and Argentina when we need to."

Graham Keeley, a member of FA staff, who has been in charge of the England partially-sighted team, had been appointed as the new head coach of the blind team. Simon Gerrard is likely to be team manager.

The England blind squad are holding their next training session at St George's Park, the FA's National Football Centre, near Burton-upon-Trent, in January, however, Davis has indicated that the Royal National College for the Blind, in Hereford, would still have a role to play in the development of blind football.

Davis said: "The development squad will still be based in Hereford. We will still hold games in Hereford and it is an integral link to what we do."

The sacking comes at a curious time as only last week, UK Sport announced £1.3 million funding, an increase on the previous financial package, to help the team prepare for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

The team competed as Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympics and finished seventh out of eight nations. However, they were the only side competing which weren't run as a full-time operation. The squad had hoped the increase in funding would allow them to train full-time in order for them to compete on a more level playing field.

Larkin, who has been involved in blind football since 1989, expressed his "shock" at the decision, although the FA have offered him a different role.

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