We were invited to play a half time match at Gayfield yesterday (04/02/18) against Dundee United Walking Football Club. Surprisingly for this time of year, the weather was quite mild and a gentle breeze replaced the normal force 10 wind. The pitch was also in excellent condition, hats doffed to the ground staff.
We had 7 players available for this game, and as usual, they were all keen as mustard to get on the pitch and get playing. We had 12 minutes to showcase walking football to potential newcomers, and I hope we at least made people aware that it’s not a bunch of old people who can barely move and that it is quite competitive, and also that it’s not just an all-male sport.
The game itself was an end to end affair, there were no dirty tackles, there were a couple of running incidents, but they were due to the occasion.
Arbroath came out on top in this match, but we hope that we can play them again at some point, hopefully over a longer period.
Many thanks to all at Arbroath FC for organising this and for having us. Particular thanks go to Brian Cargill for the big part he plays, not only for helping raise awareness of the sport, but for his enthusiasm for all things Arbroath. Thanks also to Yvonne Milliken for her organisational skills and timekeeping. Last, but certainly not least, many thanks to the players from Dundee United Walking Football Club, AWFC look forward to meeting you all again.

From left back:
Ray Parker. Mike Burnett. Dave Milne John Gowans. Dave (the cat) Beattie. Jim McNairn.
Front: The one and only – Sye Webster