‘Walking football’ is in a super league of its own

As a footballer, I’m elderly not elite, meaning that I’m one of 60,000 or so 50- to 92-year-olds (yep, 92!) in England who enjoy a more pedestrian version of the sport than the Premier League’s whippersnappers.

A survey last year revealed that for many of us ‘walking footballers’, the sport is our most significant social interaction of the week. So while the Premier League continued through the winter, I was — to use footballer lingo — sick as a parrot when we somewhat older, rather slower players were red-carded by the government. Conversely, I was over the moon at the end of last month when we were allowed to return to the pitch.

The walking game precludes running (the clue’s in the name) or play above head height. John Croot, director of the Walking Football Association, claims to have invented the game in 2011. I dispute this only because I had moved glacially around a pitch for decades prior. Today, walking football is played in 53 countries, including in more than 1,000 locations in England.

The first international match was England over-65s’ 3-1 defeat of Italy in 2018. That team included one Tommy Charlton, whose brothers Sir Bobby and the late Jackie, to be fair, also did their bit for Britain’s football folklore. Covid meant that this year’s first-ever WF World Cup has been postponed, although the WFA plans another intriguing first — an inter-gender round-robin on 9 May, including a clash between England women’s over-forties and men’s over-seventies. Be gentle, ladies.

Our game’s most contentious issue is obvious. Like Olympic walkers (who hit 7.7mph), one foot should always be grounded, but different players have different techniques to bend the rules. A straight leading leg arguably guarantees compliance though threatens a goose step.