Alive and kicking - walking footballers defy stereotypes and show fitness is for everyone

Older people are defying stereotypes of ageing by playing walking football, research from Cardiff University shows.

Dr Gareth Thomas, of the School of Social Sciences, carried out 65 anonymous interviews with older men and women playing walking football, a variation of running football (or soccer) targeted at people, particularly men, aged 50 and above.

Walking football is advertised as an accessible sport that provides a safe, sociable, and inclusive physical activity. Rules vary depending on the respective club or league, but two well-established stipulations are players must walk, not run, and excessive physical contact is prohibited.

Players involved in the research said they enjoyed how it helped them to stay physically fit and socially active as they aged. They also talked about the sheer joy of playing and, for many of them, the excitement of kicking a football again.

Spencer Pratten, 71, former captain of the England Over 60s men’s walking football team, and now a member of the over 70s side agreed with the research findings and said walking football had given him a new opportunity to take part in the sport he loved. The England team won the inaugural World Nations Cup in 2023 and again in 2025.

He said: “Everyone is watching the World Cup this summer, but walking football has so many of the same skills. Mindset is critical for any sport. If you’re positive and work as a team, it gets inside you, lifts you, and makes you give it your all.

“I’ve been playing football from the age of six. Football has always been part of my life. When I got to my sixties playing Veterans matches, and I was playing against people in their forties, it was a bit physically demanding and  I thought, that’s now the end of my football career. That's when I discovered walking football, and I realised I could carry on playing for years more.

“The rules are that there's no physical contact so you’re not going to risk injury. The game is all about positioning, clever movement, and simplicity; it’s very much an intelligence game. It’s not about speed. It’s about keeping the ball, using the created space, and finding the right pass at the right time.

“You think your time is done football wise, and a generation ago that might have been the case. But now there are walking footballers in our club playing in their 80s. The comradery, team spirit, humour, support… It’s hard to put into words just how much this amazing game has to offer.”

“The physical benefits are obvious, such as improving your heart rate and overall fitness, but the mental side of it has been life changing for me and everyone who plays the game, and that is one of the huge benefits of this all-inclusive sport.

“Getting picked for the England over 60s team at the age of 62, and then being made captain – that was a pinch me moment. My dad, who I owed so much to for his non-stop support from boyhood, was in his late 80s when I told him. That conversation was such an emotional moment, I’ve got to say – that his boy was England skipper.”

Roger Trowbridge, (66), chair of Cardiff City Walking Football Club, took up the sport when he retired as a teacher. The research chimes with his experience of the game; membership of the club has increased from 80 to 129 members in less than a year.

He said: “The younger players competing in the World Cup obviously have the best skills and are at their peak. But the best player in the world is nothing if they don’t play as part a team – and that’s the same as what we see in walking football.

“Playing any kind of sport, kicking the ball around, scoring a goal, making a nice pass, it’s just good fun. Where we play, there is a coffee shop and after every training session a good number of players will grab a coffee and have a chat. It’s just a group of blokes talking about life in general and I think that side of it is just as important as the physical benefits of getting exercise.

“I think it’s quite a British thing for men to think that once they retire, it’s a death sentence. I think a lot of people carry on working because they don’t know what else they would do. But I think these 20-plus years have the potential to be just as successful as the first 25 years of your life. For our group walking football is giving men the chance to rediscover some part of their youth.

“Once people have had their first session, they’re hooked. They’re grateful for the experience and glad they’ve made that first step. Our oldest player here is 92. We’ve got people who have all sorts of physical ailments. But walking football is good medicine for us all – both physically and for our mental health.”

Dr Thomas said: “For older people, common preconceptions suggest that bodily discomfort and pain can deter them from engaging in active leisure pursuits. But what’s clear from this study is that many participants experience pain and discomfort – and yet this doesn’t put them off from being involved. Many participants said injury was inevitable, but that ‘the pain is worth the pleasure’ because of what it offers them’. The positive feelings they got from moving their bodies and playing as a team outweighed any of those risks.”

Walking football matches are played in recreational and competitive forms, with teams typically comprised of six players each, divided according to age and, on occasion, gender.

More than 100,000 people are reported as playing walking football from across the UK.

“Alive and kicking: Physicality, pleasure and pain in walking football”, was published in the journal The International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS).