Club Role: Chairman.
1) How long have you been involved with the running / management of the club?
Colchester Phoenix has only been operating for a couple of months following our recent split with Colchester United.
2) Why did you first get involved with helping run your Walking Football club?
Our group originally played as part of Colchester United Football Club’s Football in the Community Programme but we wanted the ability to manage our own destiny and finances so we broke away at the end of last season.
3) When was your Walking Club formed?
Colchester United was set up 3 years ago and I was Club Captain, so when we formed Colchester Phoenix I was voted in and appointed as Chairman.
4) How many hours per week do you spend on club related matters?
Don’t tell my employer, but probably at least an hour or two a day!
5) Is your club funded in any way and if so, how did you achieve securing these revenue streams?
At the moment our new club is funded by a signing on fee and weekly training fees to keep afloat.
We have set up a “Go Fund Me” page on the internet and are exploring sponsorship from local businesses including my employer.
Individual players have also contributed through their purchasing of balls, bibs, cones etc.
We agreed on a signing on fee and that has covered the cost of a match day/training kit.
One of our group works closely with The Bobby Moore Prostrate Cancer charity and they have part sponsored our training jackets with their logo printed on the back.
6) 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?
We follow in the main the The WFA rules but this is dependent on individual tournaments such as the Essex Premier League, People’s FA Cup and EFL National Tournament.
7) How many regular players attend each session and how quickly have numbers grown since the club was formed?
We have a total of 18 players signed on and regularly have 12-14 at training sessions.
As we are a new club we are actively seeking to increase our numbers but any new members will be vetted and agreed through our organising committee as we want to keep our club a friendly and tight knitted group.
8) 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?
The majority of our group are still extremely competitive and particularly thrive at tournaments.
We try to keep training fairly passive but the will to win sometimes takes over.
As our numbers grow, our plan is have 2 separate sessions at training.
One to keep our tournament players fit and competitive and the other for those that just want to come for fitness purposes and still enjoy the camaraderie that only team spirit can offer.
9) Do you feel fitter and healthier since you have started playing Walking Football and if so in which ways?
Without doubt.
I weigh over a stone less than when I first started, but it’s not only your physical fitness that improves its your mental well being also.
10) Have you had any injuries playing and if so what were they?
Unfortunately yes, I ruptured 2 quad muscles stretching for a ball I probably knew I was never going to get and was out for over 3 months.
I then turned an ankle on a poor playing surface and with little first aid available was out a further 2 months.
11) Do you always have a club member present who has had first aid training at your games and training sessions?
We now train at Play Football in Colchester whose staff are fully trained first aiders.
12) Has your social life changed since you became involved with Walking Football, and if so in which ways?
As a group we stay behind for a beer and a chat after training, had a Christmas meal together, an end of season do as well as the occasional Friday nights at a Curry house.
13) What are your best and worst Walking Football memories?
My best memories are when we made the regional EFL finals at Luton 2 years ago and made it to the National Finals unbeaten.
Unfortunately I had a family holiday booked abroad and couldn’t make it.
This year we again we made it to the EFL National finals and it looked like I was again going to miss out as we were flying to Majorca for another holiday.
However, my wonderful and gorgeous wife agreed to me flying to Birmingham from Majorca on the Friday returning back to Palma on the Saturday evening so as not to miss out a second time.
Although we did not make the final we were unbeaten on the day.
14) How else has playing Walking Football affected your life?
As I am Chairman I interact with our own committee and players along with other teams and organisations.
I find the camaraderie between our own group amazing and also the opposing teams of footballers.
There seems to be so much respect for each other which is brilliant.
15) What do you like most about Walking Football?
Definitely playing.
There is nothing like the thrill of putting your boots on and kicking a ball with old and new friends.
16) What do you like least about Walking Football?
Different interpretations of the rules, playing in cages as opposed to a conventional pitch and of course unpunished running.
17) Do you find it difficult NOT to run and what advice could you give someone in how to remain at walking pace?
Not now as you tend to discipline yourself not to the longer you play.
18) What are your goals for the future regarding your Walking Football club?
We plan to consolidate and maintain our member base but to grow sensibly.
19) What advice would you give to someone who would like to play but is nervous about approaching a club or attending a Walking Football session for the first time?
Just give it a go.
We make a conscious effort to welcome all new players to our group.
20) What do your friends and family think about you playing a sport again at your age?
My family are extremely supportive that at 60 I am doing something I really enjoy.
My brother and brother in law also play so it’s never far from a family conversation.
21) What are the costs involved in order for you to play / run your Walking Football club?
We block book our sessions at Play Football Colchester to reduce outlay but charge £5 per session to help with our running costs.
22) Anything else you’d like to share?
We are all looking forward to the new season and the Essex Super League at Romford played once a month with 21 other teams.
Author: The Walking Football
You create the memories; we help you relive them forever!
