Neither the Great Britain men or women qualified for the Beijing 2008 Paralympics but Edge will be hoping to lead them to glory in London.

Edge has a wealth of experience in Paralympic sport having served as performance director at the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association.

He has also worked as national performance coach with the British Canoe Union and is therefore well placed to take on the challenging new role in the exciting and strategic game.

Lois Whittaker, chief executive of Goalball UK, told insideworldparasport: "Since we set up the National Governing Body for goalball in the summer we have been very keen to strengthen the performance team as well as develop more opportunities for younger players to get involved in the sport by developing a youth squad.

"Alan Edge brings a wealth of experience to the sport and we are delighted he is on board as we continue our journey to 2012 and beyond."

Goalball is played by blind and visually impaired players who wear shades to cover their eyes and use their senses of touch and sound to orientate themselves around a court roughly the size of a volleyball court.

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