'Labelled a hazard' to England captain - Gough's football journey

Growing up, Samantha Gough always had a passion for football. But at school, her visual impairment meant she was excluded from PE lessons.

It is an experience she remembers as "the worst of her life".

"They didn't know how to support me, so I was labelled a hazard and removed from PE," Gough, 23, tells BBC Sport.

"I was bullied by classmates as well. It was a really awful experience, but it's built me into the character and the person I am today."

Determined to ignore the bullies, Gough went to a sport testing session at the Royal National College for the Blind, where her love of football was reignited.

Now she's been named captain of England's blind football team, and is leading her side at the European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

England have recorded three draws so far in the tournament and play the hosts in their final group game on Tuesday.

Blind football is an adapted form of futsal. The ball has bells inside so players can hear its movement.

Players wear blackout eye masks apart from the goalkeeper, who is sighted.

Describing it as "a cross between football and rugby", Gough said: "You are so physically involved in the game with contact, you've got to use certain words like 'voy' for going in for a tackle. It's a full body workout."

Gough is determined to use her platform as England captain to make sure other children aren't excluded from sport in school like she was.

Earlier this year she was awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to sport and the visually-impaired community.

"We, as athletes, are part of the power of the football community, and we need to use our own lived experience to try and create positive change.

"[The MBE] was a huge honour and it's not just for me. It's for every young person out there that thinks sport isn't for them."

She added: "I had to find my own kind of inner confidence. I really take on that role model role to try and make sport more accessible for young people with disabilities. As England players we are paving the way."

That's a sentiment echoed by team-mate Selina Prieto, 37, who is also evangelical about the power of sport.

"For me, when I was losing my vision, sport is what saved me. It gave me purpose again.

"Going blind wasn't the end of the world. I could still do sport. Sport doesn't care who you are. Anybody can do it."

Prieto was a sprinter before taking up football. She competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the T11-12 100m.

But a knee injury meant she could no longer compete at the highest level in that event, so she switched to football.

"Going from an individual sport to a team sport was tricky to start off with," she said.

"But having team-mates who are now friends, that you can share these experiences with, is quite special."

For Prieto, who has a 19-month-old baby, the England call-up was extra special. She wants to show her daughter "that it doesn't matter how old you are, or what barriers you have, you can still achieve big".

"Being a parent and trying to be an elite athlete is hard, but I love it. I want to be the best mum I can, but I also still want to be the best athlete I can, which can be a bit of a juggle at times.

"I tend to try and train when she's either at nursery a couple of afternoons a week, or when she's napping, which are getting less and less as she gets older. But sport is addictive and I just want to do it for as long as possible."