The phoenix club: Birmingham Transplant FC

At 17, Rowan Caney was living his dream, playing for Aston Villa's youth side and dreaming of a professional career.

But where his peers may have had injury setbacks or dips in form, Rowan encountered something much more troubling: he was diagnosed with severe aplastic anaemia.

Aplastic anaemia is a rare disorder where the bone marrow stops producing blood cells: red and white blood cells and platelets. For Rowan and the unlucky few who experience the condition, it means fatigue, bruising, shortness of breath, and infections, among other symptoms.

His football career on hold, Rowan became seriously ill and spent a year receiving blood and platelet transfusions every fortnight. For months, he was kept on an isolation ward, knowing even a common cold could have been fatal. Football, meanwhile, stayed on his mind.

Not long after his 18th birthday, Rowan received a stem cell transplant. Stem cell transplants can be life-changing, and Rowan's was no different: it meant that he could make a return to football.

Stem cells are the building blocks of the body – they grow into red and white blood cells and platelets. For some people, receiving a stem cell transplant is the only hope of a cure. However, for a transplant to be given, a match must first be found.

In around 70% of cases, stem cell donors are found on the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry. An overwhelming majority of donations are made using a machine similar to those used in plasma or platelet donation.

Rowan's return to football was sadly curtailed by injury and illness and he stayed away from the beautiful game for 14 years. After discovering Transplant Sport and the British Transplant Games, Rowan went on to help start Birmingham Transplant FC – a club for people like him who'd received life-changing transplants.

Established in 2024, Birmingham Transplant FC was created for a one-off game against Birmingham City All Stars but has since gone on to attract 30 members, each with a story like Rowan's and with the aim of showing how transplantation changes lives.

With a phoenix adorning their crest, the club have won back-to-back trophies in the British Transplant Games Football Tournament. Rowan, who will also be captaining the England team at the Transplant Games World Cup, says is "the icing on the cake."

"It's more than just a football club," he says. "It's a way to raise awareness, bring people together and show what's possible after a transplant."

The NHS is calling for blood, plasma and platelet donors aged between 17 and 40 to join the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry.

Find out more about joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry today.