Scottish Women & Girls in Sport Week

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𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 & 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 | 𝗩𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲

Did you know that one of the early pioneers of walking football in Scotland was a woman?

Walking Football Scotland trustee Vivian Wallace, through the Ageing Well programme, started off the Midlothian group back in 2012 which was one of the first walking football sessions in the country.

Vivian has been at the forefront, developing walking football and also helped bring the sport to Trinidad and Tobago, actually playing in the country’s first tournament held in the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Trinidad’s National stadium.

Vivian continues to play an active role in the work of WFS as well as still playing for Midlothian Ladies. We encourage any ladies who’d like to start playing walking football to have a look online for sessions near you:

https://www.walkingfootballscotland.org/joinin

O50's EAST PREMIERSHIP & CHAMPIONSHIP

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𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗵 - 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!

𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲 𝗨𝘁𝗱 𝗖𝗧 - 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!

It was ‘Trophy Day’ for the Over 50’s East Premiership and Championship through at the RPC, Dundee and it didn’t disappoint with drama up the last games.

In the Premiership, we congratulate Arbroath in becoming league champions for the very first time after 3 years of St James dominance, but they never had it all their own way today after dropping 5 points in the first 2 games.

Fellow challengers Hearts also dropped points today which then meant then 1 Arbroath win would be enough to see them be crowned Champions with former Dundee footballer, Barry Smith presenting our new Premiership League Trophy, with Oriam and Hearts taking the final Champions League spots finishing second and third respectively.

In the Championship, Dundee Utd CT were crowned Champions and seal promotion to the Premiership alongside Raith Rovers who finished in second place.

The leaders nearly went through the season impressively unbeaten, until their defeat to Carnoustie in the final league match prevented that.

The battle of promotion came right down to the final matches where Luncarty were pipped to 2nd place after falling to a couple of defeats seeing Raith Rovers take advantage.

Former Hibs and Dundee footballer, Steven Tweed was on hand to present our new Championship League Trophy to Dundee Utd.

WFS would like to thank Leisure and Culture Dundee, our Regional Reps, Referees and all players and clubs for all their support their season.

We look forward in seeing you all next season!

arbroath - champions

barry smith with arbroath captain, gordon smith

dundee utd ct - champions

steven tweed with dundee utd ct captain, john macdonald

barry smith & wfs matt ramsay

O50's EAST PREMIERSHIP & CHAMPIONSHIP

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It’s the final day of the season this Sunday in the Over 50’s East of Scotland Premiership and Championship and its still all to play for.

Arbroath and Dundee Utd are currently top of their respective divisions but could we have one last twist in the tale with some big games still to be played.

There is to Champions League football to be claimed for the top 3 in the Premiership and relegation and promotion places still up for grabs too.

All in all, it will be an exciting final day with presentations to be made and who will be the first to get their hands on our new trophies, courtesy of 1st Class Trophies and Awards.

All the best to all teams and players taking part this Sunday in Dundee.

COMPETITIVE LEAGUES 2024

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As we get closer to end of the competitive WFS 2023 league season, we would like to share our plans for next year.

This has been a very successful season of our new structure and we hope that you will wish to be a part of the new 2024 season.

All entry forms can be requested by contacting competition@walkingfootballscotland.org and we ask that registrations are returned by no later than 9th October 2023.

Club News

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Its been a busy past month with clubs taking part in various events and tournaments across the country and further afield, with teams taking part in the EFDN Walking Football Tournament in Madrid.

EFDN member clubs, Morton Motherwell and Rangers headed off again to take part in the latest EFDN event with all teams competing well and as ever enjoying the experience.

Closer to home, 14 teams took part in the inaugural Over 40’s Women’s Glasgow Cup event hosted by Glasgow Life with Braehead coming out winner defeating Linlithgow Rose in the final. There was also a win for Giffnock SC picking up the Challenge plate on the same day.

Our own patron Rose Reilly MBE was out visiting clubs this past week too, as she presented the winning trophy at a local Stewarton Walking Football tournament.

We were saddened to hear of the passing of walking footballer John Cunningham earlier this year, and last weekend witnessed the inaugural John Cunningham Memorial Festival held at Stark Park, the home of Raith Rovers. 8 teams of mixed clubs joined together to take part in the celebration of John’s life and we congratulate all who took part.

In local club news, it is great to see a new Ladies session commence by KA Leisure in Ayrshire and we look forward in interest in seeing that session develop.

WFS Regional Rep was delighted to hand over bibs to Dunfermline Dynamos - a club who has grown rapidly over the last number of years and we appreciate their continual support in all that we do.

O40’s women’s glasgow cup

braehead - winners of glasgow cup with shelley kerr

giffnock sc - challenge plate winners with shelley kerr

john cunningham memorial festival

ka leisure ladies

wfs regional rep david callaghan & dunfermline dynamos

rangers charity foundation & newcastle foundation

morton & getafe

motherwell fc

stewarton

O70's PREMIERSHIP

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Our Over 70’s recommenced their league season today at Toryglen Regional Football Centre and after today’s matches nothing has changed at the top of the table.

North Lanarkshire Council defeated Fife Wanderers in the first match of the day, however then lost to Stenhousemuir giving Fife a chance to claw back the points which they then did, picking up maximum points from their other games. It therefore means there is still only 2 points separating the top at the penultimate round of fixtures.

We look forward in welcoming the club back for the final round on Wednesday 22nd November to see who will be crowned Over 70’s Premiership Champions!

SAMH E-Learning Course

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In 2018, Walking Football Scotland was one of the first sporting organisations to sign up to Scotland’s Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport which aims to improve equality and reduce discrimination for anyone with mental health issues.
Playing walking football isn’t just good for our physical health; it can also have a positive effect on our mental health and wellbeing.

We are aware that people experiencing a mental health problem can find it difficult to participate in physical activity and sport and research suggests that the less physical activity a person does, the more likely they are to experience low mood, depression, tension and worry.


Have you ever wanted to be there for someone who may be is struggling, but not known what to say?
......or do you worry about saying the wrong thing?


You're not alone. Conversations about mental health can be hard. But you don't need to be a mental health professional to support others in your community.

SAMH's free e-learning course will help you practice how to talk about mental health, and feel more prepared to help others.


It takes about 90 minutes, but you don't have to do it all at once.
You can leave or take a break at any time and it will save your progress.⬇️
https://www.samh.org.uk/about-mental-health/being-there-for-someone/conversations-in-the-community-elearning?fbclid=IwAR0amt0b2yPyYFpU8U3YJR2TFl8CZVwWS9xw7xErU9w7wVbhqvRY-cI71fA

O60's EAST PREMIERSHIP

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The Over 60’s East Premiership recommenced at Oriam National Performance Centre, Edinburgh today and it has all got very tight at the top of the league.

Hearts 98’ are 1 point ahead of Oriam but both teams will face tough challenges in the final matches of the season. The final Champions League spot will be up for grabs with numerous teams battling it out for what will be an exciting end to the season.

We thank all teams and players for participating today and look forward in welcoming you back for the final fixtures on Thursday 2nd November.

O60's WEST PREMIERSHIP

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The Over 60’s West Premierships recommenced at Toryglen Regional Football Centre today and after defeating closest challengers, Ayr Utd, Glasgow Life go 3 points clear at the top of the table.

Both clubs dropped points with North Lanarkshire Council holding ‘The Honest Men’ to a 0-0 draw, similarly there was a stalemate between Townhead Strollers and Glasgow Life, but that crucial 2-0 victory means the title is in Glasgow’s grasps with only 2 games remaining.

We thank all teams and players for participating today and look forward in welcoming you back for the final fixtures on Wednesday 15th November.

O60’S WEST PREMIERSHIP

o60’s west premiership results

O60's EAST & WEST PREMIERSHIP

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This week recommences the Over 60’s East and West Premierships at Oriam National Peformance Centre on Thursday and Toryglen Regional Football Centre, on Wednesday respectively.

Its still very tight at the top of both leagues for the penultimate round of league fixtures, with only 3 points separating the top 5 in the East Premiership and Alloa Athletic currently leading the way, whereas Glasgow Life and Ayr Utd are joint top, 5 points clear from third place but all still to play for in the West with the top 2 to play each other this week.

All the best to all teams competing in our Over 60’s Leagues.

WFS Fundraising for CHSS

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On behalf of Walking Football Scotland, trustees Gordon, Jacky and Matt will be combining walking and football together, as they raise money for CHSS.

The gents will be walking a 10k with 25 laps around the pitch of Ibrox for the 'Red, Night and Blue Midnight Walk' on Friday 27 October tying in with October being our fundraising month for CHSS.

After the financial support of CHSS sponsoring our WFS Scottish Cup, its now our turn to support them and we hope fellow walking footballers across the country will dig deep and support such a well worth cause in helping to ensure that 'No Life Is Half Lived!'.

We have created a justgiving page where you can support us raising those funds for CHSS and can donate by clicking on the link here: Walking Football Scotland is fundraising for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (justgiving.com)

Thank you in advance for your support!

Club News!

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Its been a busy past week for Walking Football in Scotland with festivals, awards, fundraising and regional reps visits to their clubs.

Firstly, we congratulate Inverness CT Community Development Trust on their Scottish FA North Regio Grassroots award for ‘Best Community Football For All Project 2023’ for their walking football programme.

The Stenhousemuir Warriors recently held a Festival in memory of former player and friend, Bill Doig and raised £3k for Prostate Cancer UK. A huge congratulations and an event, Bill would have been proud of.

Morton FC also held a recent festival and were raising money with the sum of £1k handed over for Melanoma Action and Support Scotland. Well done every one of the 40 players who took part.

There was a first walking football festival for Glenafton FC as they also became winners coming up against teams including'; Annan Athletic, Drumchapel Utd, Maybole, Queen of the South and Stranraer.

The Glasgow Life West Region Friendly Trophy has continued to be passed around clubs with recipients including Ek Wanderers, Pollok Utd and now Park Villa. An event designed to encourage those who don’t normally take part in competition to play against other teams and enjoy the many social benefits bringing clubs together offers.

And finally, our Regional Reps as ever have been out visiting their clubs and it was great to see Reps David Callaghan and Jenny Hammond visit the good work at Fife Wanderers as the club continues to thrive.

Well done all clubs for all that you do in your local communities through the power of walking football.

stenhousemuir

inverness ct win scottish fa grassroots regional award

fife wanderers & regional rep jenny hammond

glenafton festival

glasgow life friendly trophy - pollok utd & park villa

morton fc festival

O40's LADIES PREMIERSHIP

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A return to league action for our O40’s Women’s Premiership today at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility saw Linlithgow Rose CFC - Whites march on and extend their lead at the top of the table.

A big win over last year’s Champions Braehead, now leaves it all their in hands for November’s final round of fixtures.

Jeanfield Swifts - Black will be hoping for things to move in their favour if they can beat Linlithgow in their final game but we look forward to what will be a terrific final set of fixtures.

Well done to all players and teams today and we look forward in seeing you on the 12th November.

Referee Workshop

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We were delighted today to deliver our first ever CPD Referee Workshop as we continue to develop our game here in Scotland with player safety at the heart of discussions.

We welcomed 15 referees to Toryglen Regional Football Centre for a morning of education, discussion and debate, focusing on our supplementary Laws of the Game, as well as concluding with a practical session where we thank those players who attended to assisit our workshop.

With the support of the Scottish Referee Association we look to deliver further workshops to referees across the country so please keep an eye on our website and Scottish FA Referee Extranet for more details.

We thank all referees for giving of their time today to learn more about walking football and their support to us at Walking Football Scotland.