History

Walking football was invented in 2011 by John Croot when returning from an EFL meeting at Man Utd’s training ground. It was created to encourage people over 50 to get back into exercise.

A Barclays TV ad in 2014 gained attention and sparked interest. Indeed, our club started in summer 2014 under the support of PITC funding grants. There were initially 2 small groups – a hearing impaired group who played at Roko and a second group who played indoors at the Dickens Centre.

When the original funding ran out for the Dickens Centre in Summer 2015, the 2 groups combined to play at Roko and were at times able to organise teams for 2 pitches.

However, we needed to be self-funding. Gaining an Awards for All National Lottery grant in 2016 enabled us to have the financial stability to carry on long-term.

In late 2015, many in the group wanted to play against players from other clubs and home and away friendlies were arranged. This developed into mainly charity festivals/tournaments, then leagues and tournaments at local and county level organised by individual clubs.

In 2017, the FA started the People’s FA Cup with county and national finals, while The Walking Football Association (founded in December 2016) developed the concept of splitting age groups into 50+, 60+, 65+ and 70+ for competitions – this excellent idea was picked up by clubs organising their own sessions, festivals and tournaments.

We do try to involve as many players as we can in these events, aiming for our squads to be able to compete with their opposition at an appropriate level.

When Covid struck in early 2020, we all missed Walking Football and couldn’t wait for its return. Sadly, Roko never re-opened in the day-time.

We were able to move to Goals in Summer 2020 where we have been based ever since.

While we are a successful club on the pitch, our Club is not just about football – it’s a chance to make friends, socialise and feel supported/give support when going through the challenges of daily life, “older age” and retirement.

Many in the Club feel that Walking Football has changed their life markedly for the better – in health (both physical and mental), fitness, comradeship and happiness. You won’t be an old fogey if you take the sport up – it will rejuvenate you.

Join walking football (and us) and you will see how much it gives you and how much you can give back.

Major tournament Successes

2020-21 & 21-22

Extremely  few competitions held due to Covid and its aftermath