A Bonhill pan-disability football team marked their return to competition with a tournament victory.
Vale FC took home the Blantyre Tournament title, as they finally returned to match action for the first time since lockdown.
The club was founded by Bonhill man Alan Skelton and school pals Connor McFall and Cameron Bonner in 2012 while at Vale of Leven Academy, and has gone from strength to strength over the past nine years.
As well as running a charity football team, Vale expanded to running a disability side, amateur team and futsal side.
And Alan admitted emotions were high as the pan team returned with silverware from their first outing since March 2020.
He told the Lennox: “The pan team have been performing to the highest level since we came back.
“They obviously won their first tournament back, which was a nice lift after recent goings on.
“It was a very good day. The celebrations after the game were brilliant.
“The boys went out and partied well into the night. They had quite a party.
“It was nice to see the boys with a smile on their face.
“It was like you saw the last few years being flung in the bin. They got away from it all for 24 hours and enjoyed themselves.”
Although undefeated in the tournament, Alan admits that his side really had to dig in to secure the silverware.
He continued: “We played five games in the tournament and it all came down to the last game against Duntocher Black Stars where we had won four games and they had won four.
“It was nitty gritty stuff. We got a red card, which was a bit of a blow, so the boys had to sit in.
“We went 1-0 up before the red card and the mentality of the boys pushed us on and we got the win.
“It was a very tactically-won tournament. We won one of the games 7-1 and the rest 1-0.
“Looking at it from my point of view it was very well won. Four clean sheets, five wins and 11 scored. You can’t ask for any more.”
The pan team now turn their attention to the start of the new season, with banding games – to decide on leagues for the upcoming campaign – set to kick off next month.
He continued: “We managed to sign a few new players, people who have played pan league before and a few who have experience playing for the Scotland national team.
“The pan league is moving to a calendar year format. We’ve lost 2020 and 2021, there will be banding games to decide on the leagues.
“The full thing will return in October for a banding month.
“We’ll then be off for a few months and make a go of it in February or March time.”
Vale FC have been breaking down barriers in sport, linking their pan team – for players with a range of disabilities – to their first team, who play in the Glasgow Colleges FA League.
Despite being trailblazers in the world of disability football, Alan doesn’t believe that many others will follow in their footsteps, by forming a pathway between disability and amateur football.
Alan continued: “Truthfully, and I hope I’m proved wrong, I don’t see anyone following what we’ve done.
“There’s a bit of a stigma around it unfortunately still, and I don’t think that’s anything you can clear in a short space of time.”
