Walking Football
u3a festival Walking Football Tournament
u3a Festival -Walking Football Trophy presentation
On Friday 27th September Barnsley u3a's Walking Football Group were delighted to welcome Margaret Fiddes, newly elected Vice Chair of the Third Age Trust and Glenys Bailey, National Festival Sports Coordinator to their weekly game in Barnsley. Margaret presented the u3a National Festival’s Walking Football Trophy to Alan Swann, captain of the Barnsley Team that won the Walking Football Tournament at the festival in July. John MacKinnon , Walking Football Subject Adviser and WFA Tournament Referee thanked both Margaret and Glenys for all their hard work in launching the very successful National Festival and confirmed that Barnsley would be back to defend their Trophy when the Festival is next held in 2026.
Thank you to all the teams taking part in making Walking Football a huge sucess at the festival.
An introduction to Walking Football
Created by John Croot in 2011, Walking Football is one of the fastest growing sporting activities in the UK. It is a non-contact sport and running (or jogging) is strictly forbidden. We play on small pitches with small goals. Games are normally 6-a-side and can be played both inside and outdoors. We play to Walking Football Association Rules which are very simple and designed with health and safety in mind.
As a member of BU3A, in 2017 I decided to establish a Walking Football Group to encourage members to take an active part in the country’s favourite sport and to enjoy the benefits of fun and physical exercise in a safe and supervised environment. To facilitate this, I qualified as a Walking Football Association (WFA) Tournament Referee and now referee in a variety of regional and national tournaments.
I enjoyed playing club football at a decent level throughout my youth and in my early twenties I took up refereeing. My career progressed to the highest level, and I became a SFA Grade I Referee in the Scottish Premiership, Leagues 1 and 2. I have extensive experience of refereeing at all levels.
My aim is to encourage the growth of Walking Football Groups in the u3a to enable members to enjoy all the benefits of this fast-growing sport.
I’ll be happy to hear from anyone who is contemplating starting a WF Group and who wants information on Rules, Kit, Venues or any other aspect of the game.
I’m also keen to develop a network of WF Groups so that we can share experiences and encourage regional competition.
