Walking football was created in 2011 by Chesterfield FC Community Trust, with the aim of keeping men over the age of 50 active and participating in sport in a less physical manner than regular football, playing small-sided games, with no running and no contact allowed.
Since its introduction, the popularity of walking football has skyrocketed, leading to John Croot, CEO of the Trust and the club, being invited recently to Italy by UEFA for the launch of the organisation’s walking football toolkit.
John explained: “I got invited over to Florence, to the headquarters of the Italian national team, which was fantastic. They took a lead on the walking football project for UEFA, who are keen to promote walking football.
“They’ve brought out a toolkit of rules, based on the Chesterfield principles of walking football… and it gets you thinking about how far we’ve really gone with it.”
Recalling the time that he and colleagues from the Trust devised walking football, John said: “We couldn’t find anything when we first thought about it. We searched on Google and there was nothing anywhere. We came up with the idea and it’s fantastic that we are literally changing lives around the world.
“I had a guy come up to me when I was in Italy – who played for a team in Rome – and he just said, ‘John, what you guys have done has changed my life’. It’s a bit surreal, a bit humbling, really, but it’s fantastic.
“A few years ago now, before COVID, Sport England told me there was 60-70,000 people playing it in England alone. There must be millions playing it across the world… and it all started in a Portakabin in the corner of our stadium with Andy Morris and others putting the first session on.”
A wall close to the HUB main entrance features a blue plaque which was installed last year to recognise the birthplace of walking football.