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With 1 week to go, this is a reminder that any club members wishing to attend our Annual Members Meeting (AMM) next Friday 8th March at Hampden Park (1pm), please contact treasurer@walkingfootballscotland.org to confirm your attendance.
We look forward in welcoming you to our National Stadium.
As 2024 kicks off we’re getting the ball rolling with a spotlight in partnership with CHSS on a Walking Football Scotland Player of the Month!
For February the Walking Football Scotland Women’s Player of the Month is Pauline Monteith! Pauline, 54, plays with Braehead FC.
Walking Football Scotland Men’s Player of the Month is Paul Burns! Paul, 62, plays with Hearts FC.
Congratulations Pauline and Paul! They shared their reflections on what Walking Football means to them.
Pauline: “I saw an advert on a local Facebook page and I thought why not as I had played football with the boys over 40 years ago and surely it’s like riding a bike! You never forget!”
Paul: “I have a picture of myself kicking a ball outside my house at 18 months old and I’ve loved playing football ever since. At 55 years young, I had a cardiac arrest playing 6 aside’s, but couldn’t imagine not playing football. When I heard about Walking Football from Colin Mackay I just knew it would be perfect for me. One year after my cardiac arrest, I joined the world of Walking Football and I’ve never looked back.”
Pauline: “At the time my dad had been diagnosed with vascular dementia and I needed something to help my own mental health, somewhere to switch off.
Now, I would say I have never been fitter and play walking football at least 3 or 4 times a week with an amazing bunch at Braehead.”
Paul: “I love the feeling of being part of the Walking Football community. Fitness improves, new friendships grow and there’s laughs a plenty. There’s nothing better than seeing a new Walking Footballer come along to a session and loving it. I play in the competitions and get everything I ever had playing football in my younger years.”
What would you say to encourage others to come along?
Pauline: “Go for it you will love it! You will feel fitter, healthier and be part of an amazing community.
It doesn’t matter if you have never played before! Here at Braehead our age group goes from 18 to 68 with a mixture of ability. Come rain or shine this team absolutely love taking part.”
Paul: “Don’t let anybody put you off coming along to a Walking Football session. They’ll have a lot to say but never tried it. The banter’s great. There’s a good chance you’ll know at least one person in the group. It’s not about ability, it’s about playing football with like-minded mates at a wee bit slower pace.”
Through the support of our partnership with Scottish Football Museum and Football Memories Scotland, saw Linlithgow Rose CFC visit our National Stadium today for a tour of Hampden Park and Museum.
Linlithgow Rose, led by David Callaghan, have seen a massive growth in the club’s women’s section and they will be competing this coming Sunday in the opening league fixtures at Ravenscraig, some of whom were present today.
The group enjoyed their tour before changing in the Home dressing room and taking part in a walking football match within the Warm Up Area. An opportunity to learn all about Football Memories Scotland followed before enjoying reminiscing around the Hampden Museum.
We thank our friends at Hampden Museum and Football Memories Scotland for another enjoyable day and if any other clubs are looking for a similar experience, please contact Matt Ramsay at matt@walkingfootballscotland.org
Our Ladies kick off their competitive league action on Sunday 3rd March at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility with both Over 40’s and Over 50’s categories available for the very first time this year.
Last year’s National League saw Linlithgow Rose crowned Champions, however this year we have 13 teams competing in a Premiership and Championship split with relegation and promotion for the Over 40’s, and then 8 teams will battle it out to become inaugural Over 50’s Champions.
We wish teams all the very best for the upcoming season and look forward in seeing you on Sunday.
over 40’s premiership
over 40’s championship
over 50’s
Our new bibs have been a popular addition of support to our clubs across the country thanks to our charity partners, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.
With thanks from Fife Wanderers, Forfar Athletic, Falkirk Foundation, Glenbuck & Douglas Valley, R FFIT Ladies and Rossvale.
We hope this supports your weekly sessions and they get many a wear out of them!
fife wanderers
FORFAR
falkirk foundation
glenbuck & douglas valley
r ffit ladies
rossvale
Last week we announced that we are looking to make appointments of WFS Regional Team Managers and we thank all those who have expressed an interest already.
There are only a few categories that have yet to seek interest and these include the following:
Over 50’s - North & South East
Over 60’s - North East & South East
Over 65’s - North East, South East & West
Over 70’s - West
Anyone who is interested to know more information or to express an interest in becoming a Regional Team Manager for any of the above, please contact matt@walkingfootballscotland.org and/or download and send application form which can be found here - Regional Team Manager
Closing date will be Friday 1st March where applications will be then reviewed and appointments made thereafter.
It’s was the turn of the West Over 65’s to commence their competitive league season as they kicked off today at Toryglen Regional Football Centre.
14 teams arrived in hope for a successful season and after today’s opening fixtures, Pollok Thistle top the league with 7 points.
Last year’s winners Pollok Utd, went through the season last year unbeaten but it was their own additional team, Pollok Thistle that took 3 points off them before Giffnock SC Auld Timers played them out for a draw too.
Today also witnessed a first for us at WFS as we witnessed ‘father and son’ refereeing with Nathan Brown making his WFS Refereeing debut under the watchful eye of his father, Rob.
One thing for sure, according to the league table and on performances today, this is going to be a very tight and competitive league and we look forward to welcoming all clubs back on Wednesday 24th April for the next round of fixtures.
We thank all players, regional reps, referees and venue staff for making it a good afternoon of walking football in the west of the country!
Can you help us?
We at Walking Football Scotland are indebted to our fantastic volunteer Regional Reps who help support the delivery of our aims and objectives at grassroots levels, with the support of our clubs within their regions.
We are now looking for more help to compliment our current 16 reps, and have various vacancies across the country where we are looking for Regional Reps within the following areas:
North - Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Islands, Moray
East - Fife, Perth & Kinross
South West - Dumfries & Galloway
West - Argyll & Bute, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire
So what does the role of a Regional Rep include:
Assist the Trustees to deliver the aims and objectives of WFS on a regional basis
Be a WFS point of contact for Regional Member Clubs
Visitation of clubs within own region, reaching out to see where WFS can assist
Help support the development new clubs
Promote and support WFS Member activities – Festivals, Charity Events, etc.
Help create good news stories from clubs, providing regular updates to WFS for inclusion in media releases etc.
Support smooth operation of WFS competitions
Promote and support delivery of WFS Education Workshops
If you feel you can support to enable us to grow the game, please contact matt@walkingfootballscotland.org for more information.
It’s the turn of the West Over 65’s to commence their competitive league action as they kick off on Wednesday 21st February at Toryglen Regional Football Centre.
Last year’s National League for this age category, saw Pollok Utd crowned Champions, however this year we have an East and West split, and therefore 14 teams will battle it out to become Over 65’s West of Scotland Champions!
We wish teams all the very best for the upcoming season and look forward in seeing you on Wednesday.
We are delighted to share that we are in the development stage of the formation of competitive Regional Teams and thus, looking to make appointments of WFS Regional Team Managers.
This voluntary role of WFS Regional Team Manager will consist of:
Assisting the trustees to deliver the aims and objectives of WFS on a regional basis through the formation of WFS Regional Team
Management and selection of their squad for Regional Team, as well as organising and delivery of training/selection sessions in preparation of WFS Regional Competitions
We remind all players and affiliated clubs that this will not be a quick process as we have 6 categories to consider and therefore the development and formation of each Regional Team in each age category will require patience which we thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Anyone who is interested to know more information or to express an interest in becoming a Regional Team Manager, please contact matt@walkingfootballscotland.org and/or download and send application form which can be found here - Regional Team Manager
Our clubs have had a busy start to the year with over 100 players attending our workshops, taking part in club friendlies, competitive events and receiving their new bibs courtesy of our charity sponsors Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland.
Clubs including EKYM, Ayr Utd and Dumbarton FC have proudly been showing off their CHSS bibs and we are once again grateful of the support we have from our charity partners.
It has been exciting to see the developments of the game in the North of the country, where Aberdeen Community Trust kicked off their new Parkinson’s WF session with support from Parkinson’s UK and WFS Regional Rep, Drew Wilson. We look forward in sharing some exciting news and developments on this area soon.
In the East, Street Soccer Scotland held their first ever walking football tournament to mark the opening of the new facility, Change Centre Dundee. 8 teams took part and it was the hosts that were victorious defeating St James on penalty kicks in the final after a 1-1 draw.
EKYM
ayr utd
dumbarton
alloa v stenhousemuir
aberdeen community trust - parkinson’s
street soccer
It was a welcome return to league action for the Over 65’s in the East today as they kicked off their season at Oriam National Performance Centre.
It’s tight at the top with Stenhousemuir in top place on goal difference with local rivals Alloa Athletic also on the same points. Linlithgow Rose also had a positive day going unbeaten and only 2 points off the top, however we would like to say well done to all teams as they come to grips with stricter decisions on walking and ‘not-walking’.
Thank you to all players, clubs, regional reps and venue staff for their support today and we look forward in seeing you all for the next round of O65’s on Monday 22nd April.
WFS Photographer Phil Dawson was at Oriam today and all his images can be found here - https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBdToK
Walking Football Scotland are delighted to share that over the last couple of weeks, up to 40 referees have been upskilled in our Referee Education Workshop.
This workshop helps to support the education and knowledge for referees in our game as we continue to look at ways of making our game safer and drive forward levels of consistency.
This year has also seen us appoint Simon McLean as Referee Liaison Officer to support referees and club enquires and anyone wishing to get in contact currently can direct messages through - competition@walkingfootballscotland.org (Please note - this can only be main club contacts whom should make any performance based enquiries).
We have produced videos of our Supplementary Laws of the Game which can be found here on our YouTube channel with currently over 21k views worldwide - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqYsQsPQDaQ8UovcLYTvcYbWy9llvhs1&si=-P7BxZ3s3M9OqOGA
We would like to thank our referees for their continued support to our game here in Scotland and look forward in working with you this year.
It’s the turn of the Over 65’s to commence their competitive league action as they kick off in the East of the country at Oriam National Performance Centre on Monday 12th February.
Last year’s National League for this age category as seen so much growth in number that we have a East and West split for 2024 and therefore 11 teams will battle it out to become inaugural Over 65’s East of Scotland Champions!
We wish teams all the very best for the upcoming season and look forward in seeing you on Monday.
We were back out this morning as we delivered our Education Workshop to players of our affiliated clubs at Alloa Athletic’s, Indodrill Stadium.
We were delighted to deliver this free course to over 30 candidates which takes attendances of over 100 from workshops delivered the past month.
Clubs who attended today included:
Alloa Athletic, Braehead, Falkirk Foundation, Hearts, Stranraer and Stenhousemuir.
We are grateful to the support of our Regional Reps Claire McCosh and Kendell Cummings for their support as well as Richard Sinclair and his team for looking after us so well.
We were also delighted for the first time to show off our new bibs supported by our charity partners, CHSS.
More information about our next education workshops will be announced in due course.
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