Team QAC go to battle in highly competitive PAN Disability League fixtures at Redditch United.

Written by Vocational Sports Student: George R.

Queen Alexandra College’s football team recently went to battle with other colleges in the PAN Disability League’s third round of fixtures of 2025/26 at The Valley Stadium, home to semi-professional club Redditch United.

They faced teams from five other specialist colleges from the local area - Hereward, Dudley, Heart of Birmingham, Westminster and Birmingham Metropolitan - in 10-minute, seven-a-side matches.

Coaches Hamzah, Chris and Steve saw their side play six games in total - five in the league and one friendly - all of which were closely fought and very competitive. They finished with two wins (one friendly) and four losses, but there was a lot to be proud of. The players’ determination and resilience to carry on and keep fighting when things weren’t quite going their way should be looked upon very highly.

Starting slowly and building into the round of matches has been a trait of Team QAC in recent months and seasons, so a 2-0 defeat to high-flying Hereward in their first game was probably to be expected.

Hereward worked it well down their left early on and found the opener with a shot across Reece’s goal into the bottom-right corner, before a right-wing cross was turned in to make it two late on.

That result did temporarily dampen the spirits of many, but a big confidence boost came shortly after - even if it was in the form of a friendly.

Goals from Ollie, Jayden (2), Jamie and Jack in a 5-0 rout put the smiles back on the players’ faces. Under my watchful eye, team captain Ollie - in his red Birmingham City shirt - darted past two defenders before curling a wonderful strike into the top corner for the opener and what I must say was my Goal of the Day. Only the foot of the left post stood between Jayden and a memorable hat-trick after two very well-taken finishes.

It was clear to see how much that friendly victory had lifted the players’ heads - especially those of the goalscorers - and they took that newfound confidence into their next league game.

Jack came within inches of the opener against Dudley in the first 30 seconds when he latched onto Jayden’s pinpoint cross from the right, but the missed chance wasn’t one to rue on for long because Patrick soon fired Team QAC in front. Ollie’s pass found the energetic forward on the left, who then cut in onto his favoured right foot and unleashed a powerful effort into the corner.

Patrick doubled their advantage three minutes from time to secure a first league win of the day - also with his right foot, but this time from the right wing into the bottom-left corner.

Team QAC were still riding the wave of confidence that their previous thrashing brought with it, but it was then time to face their first team - and that was never going to be as straightforward.

When any team in this competition are in a position to field two separate sides, it usually means they aren’t there to mess around - and that theory was proven correct when they took the lead by bundling home a right-wing cutback two minutes in.

Team QAC showed their competitive spirit, though, making it clear that they weren’t going to go down without a fight. Patrick’s teasing free-kick from the right just evaded two onrushing attackers, before Jamie whistled an effort just over the angle of the post and crossbar from a similar position later on.

Heart of Birmingham made sure of their victory with 45 seconds left, however. Converting from the tightest of angles on the left wing, it was a goal that broke Team QAC's hearts after all of the effort they had put in.

Then came another league game, this time versus Westminster. Westminster had the first shot on target, which Reece parried well, but the ball kindly fell straight back to them - and they found the gaping goal.

A burst of pace from Jamie down the right injected some life back into Team QAC. The creative midfielder had a shot palmed away for a corner following that run, and from that corner, the ball dropped kindly to Patrick on the edge of the jam-packed penalty area, who fired a powerful shot at goal, which was well kept out.

Another one of Jamie’s fantastic corners found Jayden in the box, who fired home on the turn to draw Team QAC level just before the six-minute mark.

Westminster curled an impressive direct free-kick into the top corner from the left wing to put them back in front barely 90 seconds later, but Jamie - as did the entirety of Team QAC - thought he’d scored an even better goal in the final minute, only for it to be ruled out.

The denial of a last-gasp equaliser - especially one of that calibre - is always tough to take, but Team QAC battled right until the end of their final match, which saw them fall to a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat against Birmingham Metropolitan in the dying seconds.

It wasn’t to be results-wise in the end, but each and every one of Team QAC should be mightily proud of their efforts and sportsmanship - a truly inspirational group of players.

Huge thanks must go to the event organisers and everyone at Redditch United for what was a fantastic day.

Bring on the next one!