National Walking Football Cup 2016 – Preview
Older Footballers & Legends ‘Walk On’ as they prepare for the National Walking Football Cup Final at St George’s Park
Footballers aged over 50 are getting another chance of glory thanks to a National Football Competition from the EFL Trust
This year’s Walking Football Cup has involved over 1000 men and women aged over 50 from throughout the country who have been representing their local Football League club. We are now down to the last 10 teams who will take part in an exciting finals day at St George’s Park on Tuesday 7th June
The ten finalist are; Blackpool FC, Bristol Rovers, Colchester United, Middlesbrough, Mansfield Town, Nottingham Forest, Plymouth Argyle, Wigan Athletic, Southend United and Sheffield United
Walking Football is a slow-paced version of the beautiful game aimed specifically at the over 50’s. The competition is backed by football legend, Jimmy Armfield, who, comments, “As you get older the opportunity to participate in team sports lessen – ironically at the age when you most need to keep active. Walking Football is designed to help people keep an active lifestyle despite their age, as well as getting those back playing football who had to stop due to injuries. Simply playing 1 hour a week for 3 months enables players to cover 30 miles and burn 4,200 calories!”
In addition to the cup itself, ex-players and legends of the game Terry Angus (Fulham FC) and David Busst (Coventry City) are part of the PFA Legends teams that will make a return to the game at St. Georges Park testing their skills at Walking Football. For David in particular, he feels very passionate about Walking Football after suffering a severe leg injury that ended his professional playing career ‘’It’s great that I can be part of this event, like many footballers, amateur and professional, that suffer from a severe injury, you don’t know when and if you will return to the beautiful game. Walking football is a fantastic way of reliving my fondest memories, it brings back my love of the game. I hope that by playing I can inspire more men and women over the age of 50 to take up Walking Football.’’
Last years finalist Blackpool & Plymouth are back again this years final.
The competition comprised of 5 regional events with over 60 team competing, with the top two in each region qualifying for the finals. Dean Grice, from the EFL Trust comments, “Those dreams you have as a child of playing for your local team never truly go away, so the competition that teams represent in their local club and play in their colours. We are also grateful to The FA for allowing us to use St George’s Park to provide our players with the experience of playing a top class venue. Having legends of the game like David Busst and Terry Angus coming down to support the event is again testament to the growth of walking football and will only increase the profile of walking Football ”
Walking Football has grown massively over the last few years and as the name suggests it is non-contact and anyone that sprints, runs or jogs while the ball is in play will be penalised with a free-kick awarded to the other team.
Dean continues, “We want this tournament to provide the opportunity for friendly competition and to promote and help grow the game. So that more and more older people can benefit from staying active.”
To find out more about Walking Football click here
