Saturday 3rd October – almost a year since the first ever Women’s Walking Football international in Guernsey, it was a case of deja vu – as storm Alex provided wet and windy weather for the women.
At Solihull Walking Football Centre, two separate training sessions were held, in order to remain COVID safe – over 40s followed by 50s. The Midlands provided a regional team to make up a series of round robin training games. For both ages, caps were presented for the first match against Guernsey.
All the players enjoyed the session – it was great to see them all again and to put them through their paces. We were all impressed by the quality of the football on display. It also provided an opportunity for the 40s to meet new manager, Jimmy Astle who takes over with Stuart Langworthy moving to assistant and Elle Gough as coach. Well done all the players – one was heard to say at the end of a very wet day “was it raining, I didn’t even notice”
On Sunday 4th, the Over 60s held their first training session since March. It was great to see all the guys again and there were a number of new faces on show, trying to impress. Caps were presented to all players who have played in internationals thus far. 19 players were in attendance and were made to work hard in a high paced training session, before taking part in 6 short round robin matches. The quality of football was superb and the attitude very positive throughout – the players were extremely grateful for the opportunity to get together again, to play with and against quality players, to attend a professionally run session where health, safety and well-being was of paramount importance.
