Gary Groom has been playing walking football for three years. He’s now 59 and plays for the England Men’s Over 50s Federation of International Walking Football Associations (FIWFA), where he was part of the World Nations Cup winning team in Torrevieja, Spain.
He spoke to the Sports Gazette about his time in walking football.
“The first question I get asked every time I say I play walking football is: ‘Don’t you get tempted to run?’ Well, you do, but you’ve got to just master it really. When you can’t run past someone, you have to try and outwit them with your movement and passing ability.”
The Walking Football Association (WFA) conducted a survey across its subscribers, titled “2024 Player and Club Survey – The State of the Game”. With 2125 responses, the survey showed that approximately 95% of respondents are over the age of 50, and over 63% of those surveyed are retired.
The survey highlights the accessibility of walking football as a sport for those who are older and keen to stay active. The vast majority of answers to the question: “Why do you play Walking Football?” mention keeping fit. Additionally, 89% said that they play because of their love for football.
Walking football is a great sport to partake in for those who want to stay active and love football, such as Gary Groom.
Rules
Walking football is a six-a-side game that is played on smaller pitches with smaller goals than 11-a-side football.
There is no running allowed, one part of a players’ foot must always be in contact with the ground.
Tackling has a few restrictions, it is only legal when the tackler is facing the opponent, which means there is no tackling from behind or the side of the player in possession.
When passing, the ball must not go over head height and no headers are allowed, If it does a free kick is given to the other team. When shooting, the ball must stay under crossbar height.
Any player, who is not the goalkeeper, that enters the goal area outlined by a semi-circle, will have committed a foul, and if a goalkeeper leaves that area, they have also committed a foul. If a defending player enters the goal area, then the opposing team will be awarded a penalty.
World Cup 2025
In October 2025, Groom was apart of the England Over 50s Walking Football team that won the FIFA World Nations Cup. “The experience was just fantastic,” said Groom.
Groom’s national team experience started with a recommendation from his club, Bexley, for the Southeast regional team. From there, he travelled to Birmingham for a day of competition. He impressed the England manager, David Castle, who asked him to attend a trial which resulted in his selection for the national squad.
Castle and the WFA worked together to enable the national team to participate in the competition. The squad had three different match kits, with various sponsors, including CF Electrical, contributing to the funding of England’s campaign.
After arriving in Spain, a local football team hosted a training day for England the day before the tournament started, which included a friendly against Cyprus.
England’s run to World Cup glory was kick-started with a match against the hosts, Spain, which ended in a draw after a last-minute England penalty. The first day ended with a 3-0 victory over Scotland.
Day Two saw victories against Australia (1-0) and Portugal (3-0), with the third day resulting in wins against the Basque Country (5-0) and Italy (3-1).
The final day consisted of the quarterfinals, semi-finals and the final.
England beat Wales 2-0 in the quarterfinals to face up in a rematch against Spain in the semi-finals, where they secured a 3-2 victory to land them a ticket to the final.
Castle’s side then met Italy in the final. Mark Caven scored the winning goal that saw captain Steve Crilley lift the trophy, as England were crowned FIWFA Men’s Over 50s World Nations Cup champions, on the back of a 1-0 victory.
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