The community’s first Walking Football festival for over-50’s took place on Sunday morning at the Bannister Sports Centre in Harrow.
Held jointly by Maccabi GB and the Maccabi GB Strollers Walking Football Club, 75 Jewish walking footballers from across the country formed nine squads, as 40 players took part.
Two round robin groups determined qualifiers for a Shield and Plate knock out competition, where the most notable performer was Stephen Brown, who netted five times to help the Liberal Reform squad win group B. Group A was won by Essex Jewish Walking Football Club from Redbridge, who were taking part in their first competitive tournament.
With both semi-finals ending 0-0, penalty shoot-outs were required to see who advanced into both the Shield (for the top two in each group) and Plate (for 3rd and 4th) finals.
The Shield was won by the Liberal Reforms, where David Leigh scored in their 1-0 win over Edgehill. Captain Kevin Ziants said: “It was a great honour to captain this team. I’d like to add a special thanks to Gary Briggs (festival director) for putting this all together and engaging different Jewish Communities. Not forgetting the volunteer referees and the catering team who provided much needed refreshments after.”
The Plate went north to Manchester Maccabi, with captain Tony Gellman scoring a last-second penalty.
Stuart Lustigman, Vice President of Maccabi GB and the Edgehill team captain said: “In the current environment, events such as this are really very important as they strengthening the community and demonstrate how sport can be used as a vehicle for Jewish awareness.”
The event also raised more than £2,000 in sponsorship for the Maccabi GB International Games Endowment Fund. MGB Strollers Chairman and festival director Gary Briggs said: “We were thrilled to welcome teams from Manchester, Redbridge and Borehamwood who had established teams in recent years. Our objective was to reach new communities and teams, so sport aside, it’s a great success.
“It was a wonderful sporting occasion, but equally a huge success for community spirit. We shall be back next year.”
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Author: The Walking Football
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