The fastest growing form of football is set to take over Tameside thanks to a unique partnership between the sport itself and community agencies which support older people, all underpinned by Tameside Council's Public Health department. At a launch event at the Active Ken Ward centre in Hattersley which saw walking football tyros ‘Vintage Celtic' taking on their more established neighbours ‘Glossop Gentlemen FC' representatives of Age UK Tameside, Stalybridge Celtic FC and Glossop-based social enterprise WellFit Health & Wellbeing CIC all wished the new venture "bon voyage" with a bacon butty and a brew.

Walking football, which has all the elements of the beautiful game but at a more gentle pace and with less physical contact, is sweeping the nation since it was featured in a Barclay's television advertisement. The game is particularly attractive to older men who are drawn by the camaraderie, the opportunity to take some exercise and the chance to do something purposeful with their time and Public Health Tameside have high hopes it will help counter the challenges of isolation and loneliness so prevalent in older men.

Age UK Tameside's Chief Executive Bernadette Ashcroft is leading the partnership's drive to create four walking football sessions around the borough and she has been buoyed by the success of the pilot session which is running at the Ken Ward Sports Centre every Monday at 2pm, "The pilot is now in its third month and we have seen 20 different people try the game with about three quarters of them playing regularly. We plan to roll out the programme in the New Year so that people in Tameside and Glossop have the option to play any day of the week. Even in the short time I have been involved with walking football I have seen the guys who play getting physically fitter with their balance and coordination improving and the smiles on their faces getting broader and broader. One of the guys said to me this morning ‘I feel better after an hour of walking football than after taking two bottles of pills' and he wasn't talking about imported lager!"

For those keeping score, the match ended in a 3-3 draw, the teams meet again at a Great War memorial tournament being held in Glossop on Thursday 4th December 2014.

Weekly Sessions are run as follows –

Venue: Ken Ward Sports Centre (Hattersley)
Day: Every Monday
Time: 2.00pm to 3.00pm
Cost: £2.00 per session

Anyone who would like to try walking football – or knows someone who would benefit from getting involved – should ring Mike Smith at Stalybridge Celtic FC on 0161-338-2828 or via email community@stalybridgeceltic.co.uk or Visit www.walkingfootball-tameside-glossop.uk