Celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, St Helens Walking Football Club has come a long way since chairman Peter Fitzpatrick was struggling to get double digits to sessions back in 2015.
The club now boasts more than 150 members, including world cup winner Jill Thomas, who was part of an England team that won the ladies over 50s title at the FIWFA World Nations Cup in Alicante in October.
The club also saw two other members represent their country in Spain, but Thomas believes the off-pitch achievements of the club overshadow anything that can be achieved on the pitch.
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She told the ECHO: “It was brilliant (winning the world cup). We went over to Spain and came back with the trophy.
“But when I come back here, I’m no different to anyone else. The club’s about community, getting people out and about and socialising. It’s a great club to be a part of and the benefits of keeping active and social can’t be underestimated.”
It’s not been a straightforward journey for the club to get to this position. Originally formed as a council initiative back in 2015, Fitzpatrick admitted it struggled in its early months.
He said: “St Helens Council’s sport development team started it. They put an advert and that appeared in the St Helens Star, and the following week when that came out my son saw that and said, ‘do you fancy coming along’, and the rest is history.
“Originally, we had about 12 people, after the second week that went down to about eight or nine and then we were slowly building, and we got to about 15 in late 2015 and at that point we said we’ve got to do better than that and started to build on it. We’ve thrived from there.”
Despite the growth, Fitzpatrick believes the principles the club was built on have been maintained, with community taking priority over quality of football.
He said: “We’ve always had good footballers, don’t get me wrong, people who’ve played semi-pro, people who have gone on to play walking football internationally, so we’re not that bad if we want to be.
“But it’s not just about that. What I’ve enjoyed and feel proud about from my career is I get just as much of a kick from helping other people who maybe haven’t played before. That’s more of a buzz than you get from pulling on the shirt and going out and doing your own stuff.
“It’s not about the quality of the player here it’s about the quality of the human.”
The message of inclusion is echoed around the whole club. With members ranging from 29 years old all the way to 85, there’s an opportunity for everyone, no matter what age or gender.
The club saw their first female participants in 2020, and the numbers have since soared. A three-touch rule helps everyone play together, with no separate groups based on gender or ability, adding to the community feel.
That community feel is taken off the pitch, too, with player Alan Aldridge believing this side is just as important as the football.
He said: “We’re just trying to form connections with people and have a laugh. What else would we be doing on a Monday morning, getting out of bed, walking round the house. We do a quiz night, we’ve got a race day out, it’ll all be around social connections and helping people.”
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Author: The Walking Football
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