Growing up in Bundaberg, Dylan Leggett spent the beginning of his football career at Across the Waves FC; his clear pathway from regional FQPL Leagues to the NPL Queensland competition, is a true success story of Queensland’s connected football pyramid.  

As a former Bundaberg local and current NPL Queensland defender at Redlands FC, Leggett spoke to Football Queensland about the opportunities the FQPL Champions League continues to provide for regional players like himself.  

Last year Leggett competed around Queensland as part of the newly launched FQPL Champions League, which saw Across the Waves come up against sides from other regions, including Edge Hill United who they narrowly lost to in the Semi Finals. 

“Being around the Bundaberg region for so long you kind of get an understanding for the teams and players, but being in a competition like the Champions League, the new teams, the new competitions, it’s so much better for a player’s development,” Leggett said. 

The FQPL Champions League was designed with a focus on providing more opportunities for regional players to compete at a higher level and showcase their talents across the biggest stages. 

“It’s 100% a benefit for regional players; giving players from Bundaberg that opportunity to travel to different regions, it’s definitely an experience that people in a small town don’t get and being a part of it was just a great thing,” Leggett said. 

During his time at Across the Waves, aside from being crowned the FQPL Wide Bay Men’s Champions in 2022, Leggett was selected and named captain of the FQPL Wide Bay All-Stars squad to take on Brisbane Roar FC in an exhibition match in August 2022. 

Leggett was also one of a few selected to train with Brisbane Roar whilst they were in the Wide Bay region, which he attributes as an opportunity he was very fortunate to get. 

“It was a real eye opener; it was probably one of the main factors that brought me down to Brisbane,” Leggett said. 

Upon deciding to take the next step in pursuing his football career, Leggett and his coaches began making new connections and organised opportunities to trial with Brisbane City and Redlands FC. 

“It was actually my brother who got me the Redlands opportunity, he went to school with one of the coaches there and the coach came to watch the Edge Hill game that we played in; a couple of weeks later I went to the trial, and I was fortunate enough to get in,” Leggett said. 

“In the first few NPL games there was definitely a wow factor, it’s improving my game just being there and being around the squad itself and getting starts. 

“We played against Eastern Suburbs, and it was a really big opportunity for me not being from around Brisbane, playing against Eastern Suburbs where my brother had played before, it was a special moment for me, and I feel like I held my worth.” 

Round 1 of the 2023 Mitre FQPL Champions League Men’s competition will kick off this weekend, alongside the brand new FQPL Champions League Women’s competition, seeing regions go head-to-head in a knockout format for a spot in the Grand Final against their respective FQPL 1 Premiers. 

More information on fixture time and locations are available under the FQPL Champions League tab on the FQ Website.