{"id":509998,"date":"2025-10-18T18:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509998\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T18:00:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:00:18","slug":"the-beautiful-stroll-englands-seniors-take-walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509998\/","title":{"rendered":"The beautiful stroll: England\u2019s seniors take walking\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no running in walking football<\/a> \u2013 at least, not officially. Yet as England\u2019s over-70s took on their final training match before competing in the World Nations Cup<\/a> in Spain next week, the pace felt anything but pedestrian.<\/p>\n

Voices echoed across the pitch, sweat beading on foreheads. One man even earned a red card for grabbing another player\u2019s arm and denying him a goal-scoring opportunity. For a sport defined by restraint, it\u2019s surprisingly full-blooded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people would be surprised by how competitive it is, how physically demanding it is, and actually how quick it is \u2013 not because people run, but because the ball moves quickly when it\u2019s played properly,\u201d said Gareth Lewis, the manager of the England men\u2019s over-70s team.<\/p>\n

This is walking football \u2013 one of Britain\u2019s fastest-growing sports \u2013 and at an age when many are slowing down, these players are striding towards their prime.<\/p>\n

What began in Chesterfield in 2011 as a gentle way to coax older men back into exercise has become a runaway success story \u2013 despite the rule that one foot must always remain on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are 14 years later, and it\u2019s probably one of the fastest-growing sports in the world,\u201d said Stuart Langworthy, the manager of England\u2019s over-60s. Today there are community teams, national leagues, an FA Cup, and international tournaments \u2013 including the World Nations Cup, which kicks off in Spain on Monday.<\/p>\n

The inaugural Cup, held in 2023 at St George\u2019s Park in Staffordshire, featured 28 men\u2019s teams from 17 nations and England won both categories \u2013 the over-50s and over-60s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing experience. It\u2019s hard to put into words,\u201d said Tony Jones, 70, a member of that winning side and now captain of the over-70s. This year\u2019s tournament adds men\u2019s over-70s and three women\u2019s divisions \u2013 over-40s, over-50s and over-60s \u2013 with 70 teams expected from more than 30 nations.<\/p>\n

More than 100,000 people now play regularly across the UK, many managing chronic illnesses or disabilities. Women are joining in increasing numbers; among them is Morag \u201cMaggie\u201d Pearce \u2013 one of the original Lionesses of the 70s and 80s \u2013 who will compete in the women\u2019s over-60s team in Spain.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s game is typically younger, said Langworthy. \u201cYou get a lot of younger women play because they want to keep fit, but they don\u2019t necessarily want to go to a gym or go for a jog. They want to play in a team sport which is inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The walking element is often the hardest to master. The game is six-a-side, played on a smaller 3G or 4G pitch, with no tackling from behind and no contact \u2013 rules designed to prioritise safety but which many say improve the football itself. \u201cIt\u2019s a game of skill,\u201d said Graham Collier, 74, a former Nottingham Forest midfielder who now plays for England\u2019s over-60s.<\/p>\n

As the sport\u2019s popularity increases, so too does research into its benefits.<\/p>\n

Prof Ian Varley, an exercise physiologist at Nottingham Trent University, studied 672 players in last year\u2019s FA Walking Football Cup. They found low injury rates overall<\/a>: tackles caused 45% of cases and running \u2013 which is banned \u2013 12%.<\/p>\n

Varley said: \u201cA big thing that we found is having a chronic condition wasn\u2019t really a barrier \u2013 over half of participants had one. There were people with arthritis, cancer, diabetes, stroke victims. There was one guy playing who\u2019d had both his hips replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most injuries were minor \u2013 trampled toes or kicked shins \u2013 with only 7% linked to pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n

Players\u2019 emotional wellbeing also exceeded the national average, and loneliness tended to be rarer. \u201cThe national average is about 5% for feeling \u2018often lonely\u2019,\u201d said Varley. \u201cIn walking football, it was 1%. People said their social connections had improved, their physical fitness had improved, they get better sleep, have a greater confidence. It was almost like a magic bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Jones, the biggest draw is friendship. \u201cIt\u2019s the camaraderie, the dressing room banter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The sport\u2019s social and cognitive benefits are being tested for other groups too. Dr Marie Poole<\/a> at Newcastle University is studying a dementia-friendly walking football initiative<\/a> with the Newcastle United Foundation. \u201cA lot of these guys are football fans, and just that sense of belonging to something again is a real benefit,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are also cognitive benefits related to sequencing your thoughts around what you\u2019re doing, who you\u2019re trying to pass the ball to, how you\u2019re getting yourself in position to score or defend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brain training as well as body training,\u201d added Prof Dame Louise Robinson, also involved in the research.<\/p>\n

Parkinson\u2019s is another example: Langworthy shows a video of Paul Nicholls<\/a>, diagnosed in 2014 and a founder of England\u2019s first Parkinson\u2019s walking football. Though he struggles to walk unaided, once he gets a football, he can run, turn and dribble. \u201cBecause your brain is thinking, \u2018I\u2019ve got to control the ball\u2019, it somehow allows your body to work,\u201d said Simon Forrest, the Walking Football Association\u2019s impairment director, who also has Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Inclusive it might be, but at elite level walking football is fiercely competitive. Having won the World Nations Cup in 2023, England is heavily tipped to retain its title \u2013 though Italy is a threat. \u201cThey do everything you\u2019d expect an Italian team to do,\u201d said Jones, with a twinkle in his eye. \u201cThe trouble is, everyone wants to beat us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching the over-70s in action, it\u2019s clear the passion for football doesn\u2019t retire \u2013 it simply finds a different gait. \u201cAs an old person, you look around at what other old people do, and we\u2019re playing football. We\u2019re going to France, Italy, Spain for the World Cup,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cPinch me. We\u2019ve got our football back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rise of walking sports<\/p>\n

While walking football has set the pace, a growing number of other walking sports are gaining ground across the UK and beyond \u2013 offering lower-impact ways to stay active, sociable and engaged.<\/p>\n

Walking <\/strong>netball<\/strong> is another English invention, developed by England Netball in collaboration with Age UK in 2017, and rolled out nationally with the support of the Women\u2019s Institute and local leisure centres. It adapts standard netball rules: no running or jumping, longer ball-holding times and extra steps allowed. The game has proved especially popular among women over 50, providing fitness and friendship.<\/p>\n

Walking <\/strong>rugby<\/strong> is also gathering momentum. First played at Reading RFC in 2015 after players asked for a version similar to walking football, this non-contact adaptation removes tackling, mauls, rucks and scrums \u2013 and insists participants walk at all times. Players can hold the ball for no more than three seconds before passing, keeping the pace brisk and encouraging interceptions.<\/p>\n

Walking <\/strong>tennis<\/strong> is the latest to join the lineup. Age UK and the Lawn Tennis Association\u2019s Tennis Foundation have launched eight pilot groups across England, aiming to reach more than 160 older people over the next two years \u2013 particularly those with health conditions, disabilities or limited mobility. The game removes many of tennis\u2019s physical barriers: there\u2019s no running or jumping, players are allowed two bounces of the ball, and matches are played on smaller courts with softer balls and lighter rackets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no running in walking football \u2013 at least, not officially. Yet as England\u2019s over-70s took on their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[1500,748,4044,393,5686,4884,5681,12,5683,5682,5684,5685,16,15,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-509998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-daily-news","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-global-news","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-inkl","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-news-app","17":"tag-news-headlines","18":"tag-news-today","19":"tag-today-news","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115396478884972171","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}