THE Worcestershire Disability Football Club is hosting an inaugural competition under the banner of Ability Counts West Midlands on Sunday, February 5.

The AC League is in its first year of organising matches and is using the early experience to establish a number of teams made up of footballers with a wide range of special needs, bringing them in to the excitement and pleasure of playing in a fully fledged FA League in competitive matches.

WDFC was established in partnership with the Worcestershire FA to provide an opportunity for players with special needs to play. The club has already taken part in four Ability Counts fixtures this season.

They train every Sunday, except on match days, at Elgar Technology College, Worcester from 10.30am and offer a standing invitation to all aspiring players with special needs to join them.

Next month's tournament takes place at Pershore High School between 11.30am and 3.30pm on the new Astroturf surface partly funded by the Football Foundation.

Teams from all over the West Midlands, including Stoke City, Birmingham City and Aston Villa are expected to be present.

The WDFC is also staging a Football Skills Introduction session for two hours from 1pm intended to show anyone who has fears about joining in the game that they Can play in a safe and secure environment and gain much through raising their self-esteem and general fitness.

WDFC hopes this aspect of the day will prove to be a big incentive to the special needs community to come along and support their efforts to bring football to all.

Full details of the event can be found at www.wdfc.org or by calling WDFC chairman Derek Cunningham on 07778 880057.