Could you start by telling us about your background such as if you were you a sporty person when you were younger, and how long you had a break from playing sports and why you decided to get involved with Walking Football?
Very sporty as a child playing football until past sunset nearly every night at the local park. As a youth I played tennis and badminton to a decent level and spent a few years in the Army, where I played football against Dutch and German teams.
I played football into my late 30s as I always kept myself physically fit. But then in my early 40s I had keyhole surgery on both knees twice, and that meant I could no longer do any impact sports.
So cycling and swimming became my new sports.
I got involved with Walking Football as I saw it become popular in the UK and when I relocated back to live in Marbella in November 2016, I found there were no clubs on the Costa del Sol.
Considering the numbers of expats over the age of 50 living in Spain, I decided it might be a good idea to get a club started.
How long have you been involved with the running / management of the club?
Since I started it in May 2017.
How many hours per week do you spend on club related matters?
I work full-time on Walking Football Spain matters.
Does your club follow rules of the game created by any official body / association? If the
answer is yes, why did you decide to follow those association rules?
No is the answer. We do not adhere to WFA rules for the simple reason that we believe in playing 3-touch walking football, as we find it safer and cuts out a lot of running and is also more of a leveller.
It prevents the better players dribbling past a whole team to score goal after goal for example.
The Walking Futbol Union in Barcelona are creating their own rules for the game and we like what they are doing as they believe in 3-touch.
But we also partly play European Legends rules as well which is small goals with no goalkeeper. We often play this way for our over 65s as having a fixed goalkeeper is not always a good idea for this age group.
So in short, our rules are cobbled together from 3 different associations!
When you have visiting teams from the UK over to play in friendlies and tournaments, which set of rules do your officials use?
Our own rules.
In fact, every tournament we have played in, in both Spain and Portugal, the rules have been different. Which means we have to practice playing to those rules in the run-up to any tournaments.
What other differences are you aware of regarding Walking Football in the UK compared to Spain?
From what I have seen on Facebook and social media, the games and particularly the tournaments in the UK, have been very physical with lots of complaints about over-physicality and about running.
At Walking Football Spain, we are more about providing an inclusive environment to allow players of all standards to come along and enjoy themselves, without the sessions becoming too competitive.
Can you tell the readers about your own tournament this coming September 2018, and if it sounds of interest to them, what they will need to do to register?
We are running an Over-60s Walking Football tournament in Marbella, sponsored by MyGuideMarbella. It is at an all-inclusive sports camp with great facilites. It is a 7-a-side tournament with a maximum of just 8 clubs.
Please email me on adam@walkingfootballspain.com for more information.
Is your club funded in any way and if so, how did you achieve securing these revenue streams and sponsors?
We currently have 6 sponsors and are looking for more.
We have three different teams, each with a shirt sponsor on a 2-year deal, we have 2 tournament sponsors and a banner sponsor. Our very first sponsor was Avalon Funeral Planners which the lads felt a bit odd about! Bodyworks Health Clinic sponsor our Marbella team.
Fluent Finance Abroad sponsor our San Pedro team and Smart Currency Exchange sponsor our Benalmadena team. Plus Blacktower Financial Management have sponsored a tournament we are playing in May against a couple of teams from the Algarve. And MyGuideMarbella have sponsored our Over-60s tournament in September this year.
At the moment, we are looking for a ball sponsor and newsletter sponsor. In return, the sponsors receive a lot of coverage in the Costa del Sol press. We send out regular press releases and have good relations with local journalists.
It helps that there a are lot of expat newspapers and magazines in the Marbella area
How many regular players attend each session and what is the age range and gender?
We started in May 2017 with just 5 players and now have 60 registered players on our books.
Many of these however, are players who only spend part of the year in Marbella, so they spend a few months in the Winter or they come out on holiday a few times a year. As an average, we get around 40 different players each week.
The ages range from 38 to 77 and all men at the moment. We did have some ex-pro women play for us for a while but they live too far away to come regularly.
How quickly have numbers grown since the club was formed, and did you need to do a lot of marketing and promotion in order to build them up?
As per the last answer. We got going initially with me buying some Facebook ads.
The main driver then was word of mouth of course. The local walking club has provided quite a few players and in return, we have provided them with a few new recruits. We have also had over 20 newspaper and magazine articles since we started, which also helps to bring in new recruits.
Plus we are very active on social media, facebook, twitter and instagram.
If your club plays a competitive game, rather than one of the weekly Walking Football fitness sessions, do you see any change of attitude in respect of competitiveness in the players?
Yes they do kick up a gear in regards to competitiveness. As I mentioned, our sessions are fairly jovial and we try not to allow them to become too intense.
Do you feel fitter and healthier since you have started playing Walking Football and if so in which ways?
That is a moot question.
Because we play in Spain and the temperature can be between 25C and 35C when we play, then we tend to have a few cool beers afterwards. The number of beers afterwards could counteract the weight lost by playing football!
One of our players is also a French cheese merchant, and he regularly brings samples post-match!
Plus we have a tradition whereby if it is someone’s birthday that week, then they bring food to the sessions. And with 60 players it is always someone’s birthday!
So there is a chance we could all be putting on weight!!
Have you had any injuries playing and if so what were they?
When we first started, I did pull my hamstring trying a cheeky backheel and then pulled a muscle in my thigh. Many of our players had slight injuries when they first started playing.
I think that after a break of 20 or 30 years then it is inevitable that you will pick up strains and pulls. But we have introduced a full 15 minute warm up session and we do not allow players to even look at a ball until they are warmed up. This has really helped.
Do you always have a club member present who has had first aid training at your games and training sessions, and is there a defibrillator available if needed?
Six of our players have attended a CPR course and we have recently crowd-funded our very own defibrillator, raising £1,000 in just 8 days on JustGiving.com.
Has your social life changed since you became involved with Walking Football, and if so in which ways?
Yes it has changed for everyone. We have all made more friends and have a lot of banter.
What are your best and worst Walking Football memories?
Well the worst was when one of our players died from a sudden heart attack while we were at a tournament in Portugal.
The best is yet to come!
How else has playing Walking Football affected your life?
To be honest, my knees do tend to flare up when I play, so I actually try to not play but just manage the teams from the sidelines.
I would have put myself forward for the England trials but my knees would not stand for it.
But it is a full-time job for me now. And the resultant press coverage we have had means that both my name and that of Walking Football Spain is now very well known in Marbella.
What do you like most about Walking Football?
The banter and friendships.
What do you like least about Walking Football?
The agression and competitiveness that I have seen in tournaments. I believe that Walking Football needs to be a different version of football (which is why I believe in 3-touch) and not just football at a slower pace for older people.
It has to have a new ethos of care and respect and to do away with the competitive tendencies that many players had in their 20s.
Do you find it difficult NOT to run and what advice could you give someone in how to remain at walking pace?
I think this argument will run and run (forgive the pun).
There is such a fine line between fast walking and slow running it is almost impossible to tell. I am not sure we should not all be a bit more relaxed about the whole walking/running debate and focus more on driving the overphysicality out of the game.
We have 70 year olds who can’t run as fast as some of the younger players can walk, and yet they get pulled up for running which I think is a bit unfair and ludicrous.
What are your future goals for your club and expanding Walking Football in Spain?
We are currently looking to host a Health Show, as we feel that the whole ethos around walking football is to do with general good health, particularly for people over 50.
We are also looking to expand the number of teams from 3 to 6 and to organise more tournaments!
What do your friends and family think about you playing a sport again at your age?
I have played some sort of sport or done some sort of exercise all my life. I never really stopped.
What are the costs involved in order for you to play / run your Walking Football club?
The pitch fees are quite expensive in Marbella and we cover a wide area with 3 clubs from San Pedro to Benalmadena, so we go through a lot of petrol.
If a British Walking Football Club would like to visit you for a game one day, how can they contact you and what information can you provide to help them prepare for their trip?
We have already had many teams in contact with us who would like to spend a few days in the sun playing walking football.
You can email me on adam@walkingfootballspain.com or WhatsApp on 0044 7414 201701 or visit www.walkingfootballspain.com.
Only advice is to bring plenty of sun cream, plenty of water and make sure you have some spare cash for a beer or two!
Author: The Walking Football
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