Harlow Town Pirates Walking Football teams started their 2026 Essex Walking Football League matches in March, and the new season started well.
First to play were the Over 60’s Men in Division 2, after having been relegated last year. The team got off to an excellent start, defeating Little Oakley 1-0, but came up against tougher opposition in their next match against Leyton Orient Red, who won 0-3. However, Pirates bounced back with consecutive wins over Eastwood Falcons Blue 2-0 and Stones Athletic 1-0. At the end of the day, Pirates were second in the League consisting of 10 teams, just one point behind the leaders, Leyton Orient.
The Over 65s men in Division 1 had a mixed day in their first set of fixtures. They started with a 1-1 draw with Little Oakley, but were then beaten 0-1 by Leyton Orient Red. However, they followed this with a 2-0 defeat of Wakering, only to lose 0-1 to Chelmsford City Claret in their final match of the day. Pirates’ only win came over Wakering who lead the table at the end of the day, with Pirates in 8th place of 10 teams.
Next up, it was the turn of the Women’s teams to start their season. In the Premier League, Pirates who completed the League and Cup double in 2025, made a great start with a 3-0 win over Hawkwell Athletic. This was followed by a 0-0 draws against Leyton Orient and Beacon Hill Rovers, but then Pirates completed an undefeated day with consecutive wins over Valley Green Diamonds (2-1) and Billericay Town Blue (1-0), which left them one point clear at the top of the table.
The Championship side had an even better day with 5 wins and 2 draws. They started with four straight victories over Billericay Town Red (3-0), Romford Randoms Yellow (1-0), Billericay Town White (1-0) and Stanway Rovers (3-2). Then came their first dropped points against Valley Green Emeralds (0-0), but they then reverted to winning ways with a 1-0 defeat of Beacon Hill Rovers White. Their final match against Romford Randoms Blue finished 1-1 which meant that Pirates top the table by one point.
There is a new age category for the Men this season, the Over 74s. Although Pirates don’t have enough players of this age to enter the League, 4 of them joined others from smaller clubs to make up an All Stars squad of 8 for the first round of fixtures. There are only three other teams in the League, each from Clubs with enough eligible players. The first match was against Norwich Soca which ended 1-1. The second against Little Oakley also finishes all square at 2-2 and the final match continued this trend with a 0-0 draw against Billericay. Thus the All Stars found themselves 3rd place at the end of the day.
The last age group to kick off the new season was the Men’s Over 70s. They had a mixed day, starting with a 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient Red, but then suffered a 0-3 defeat by Norwich Soca who finished the day at the top of the Division. But Pirates bounced back to win their final match 2-1 against Eastwood Falcons Blue, to finish the day in 4th place of 9.
If you are interested in playing, please look at the Club’s web site https://www.harlowtownpirates.org.uk for more information.
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Author: The Walking Football
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