Moments of clarity can come out of the air with the velocity of a clearance by a Junior centre-half.
Ball and thought struck me at the Firhill Complex. The first rendered me prostrate, the second provoked a smile and a sense of gratitude.
Lying on the plastic turf of the complex with a match raging around me, I took a moment to reflect on the absurdity of this old dodderer playing fitba’ at 70. But I also basked in the joy of the game and all it offers. It surrounded me.
The John Sutton Community Club runs 16 kids’ football teams and a couple of veteran sides of over 50s and over 60s. But its walking football group on Friday morning is a microcosm of what the former footballer and his gang of volunteers want the club to be all about.
The key word is inclusion. This may drift into the world of cliché but its wondrous reality is visible amid the drizzle of a Firhill Friday.
There is Margaret Mary, a woman of venerable if undisclosed age, who is partially sighted and taken two buses from Cambuslang to attend.
There is the chap who fell from a roof when working and struggled to walk again. He is now perfectly able to thread a pass or shrug off a challenge.
There is the character who plays with the aid of a crutch and is not averse to using his stick to control the ball.
There are others, young and old, who play without obvious physical disadvantages. These include Sutton’s daughter, who is nine-years-old, a couple of guys who play for the over-50 and over 60s teams, and others who are younger and impressively mobile.
The game is close and gently competitive and the after-match is glorious. There is fruit, coffee and an array of cakes. A couple of dozen players scoff the grub and scoff gently at me. There is community. It is wonderful to witness…
Alongside her sits Eddie Hughes, 59. He plays for the over-50s side and spends much of the morning poking the ball between my legs.
‘I was 20-odd stone and had walking sticks so I started playing for health reasons and it has helped me greatly. My mobility has changed completely. I always played football when younger and I used to sell the macaroons and spearmint gum at Firhill.’
This brings a flood of memories to older heads but Eddie is focused on the future: ‘When I came along here there were only three of us but look how it has grown. Hopefully, more and more will come.’
The future, too, holds a significant move for Eddie. ‘Aye, I’m 60 later this year so I will qualify for the over-60s. We try to play a lot of friendlies and build up through that,’ he says…
CONTINUE READING at source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-14901523/On-Road-Walking-Football-left-intrepid-reporter-flat-makes-unique-form-beautiful-game.html
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Author: The Walking Football
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