AWF are currently part of Teso’s small community grants project.

So, the next time you visit the Tesco store in Arbroath, be sure to drop some blue tokens into the AWF slot.

The committee is all volunteers and our club is community-orientated, any help will be very much appreciated.

Good luck to all who are part of the current Tesco community grants in Arbroath.

AWF travelled through to play in the Champions League finals of the Scottish Walking Football season at the superb indoor facility at Ravenscraig, Motherwell.
It involves the champions and runners-up from the East, West, and Central regions playing in a round-robin tournament.
With St. James, who are the current East champions and Champions League winners having to pull out due to injuries and transportation issues, Linlithgow Rose managed to raise a team to preserve the format.
The representative teams were: East – AWF, West – St. Anthony’s, Pollok, Central – Hearts, Linlithgow Rose and Oriam.

With sharpshooter Steve Cargill unavailable, manager Mckenzie selected a squad of GK Davie Waddell, Wullie and Kev Craib, Dave Scott, Phil Skelly, Alan Durno, Ally Gordon, big Gogs Smith, Allan Harrison and Davie Milne.
First up was Linlithgow Rose, and AWF made a great start with Gogs Smith slamming home a very early goal. This was soon added to by penalty king Kev Craib who converted a penalty after a Rose player entered his own penalty area. Skelly was then replaced by Dave Scott, who was resolute in defence for the entire tournament. Kev Craib then stroked the ball home to make it 3-0.

Next up was Pollok, who had ex-MSP Tommy Sheridan in their team and whose blatant running went unpunished for the whole game.
AWF made a few changes to the starting team and played very well but conceded a goal against the run of play. Gogs Smith capitalised on an error, and his goal ensured it was a share of the spoils at 1-1.
It was Hearts next, and both keepers were kept busy in a ding dong game; AWF was awarded a penalty due to 3 running offences and up stepped Kev Craib to put AWF 1-0 up in the battle in the maroons. The ref then inexplicably awarded Hearts a penalty in the dying embers of the game when he adjudged Scott to have entered his own penalty area, much to the bewilderment of both teams as he clearly hadn’t.
Hearts converted the kick and the game finished 1-1.

It was Oriam next, and AWF maintained their form as both teams gave a committed performance. It was Ally Gordon who put AWF up 1-0 after he controlled a raking pass from Waddell and finished sublimely. Oriam had some fine efforts on target but Waddell thwarted all attempts. It was Gogs Smith who again found his shooting boots to put AWF 2-0 up and win the 3 points.
The last game was against Glaswegian St. Anthonys who are another fine team. AWF again fought fire with fire and saved arguably their best performance until last. AWF took the lead via a Kev Craib snapshot, making it 1-0. The Saints struggled to contain Ally Gordon, and he showed great composure to put AWF 2-0 ahead. AWF defended strongly, with Scott mopping up attacks and Waddell pulling off a couple of great saves to preserve the lead. It was left to Gogs Smith to hammer home a fine shot. Gordon was then substituted for Milne after being booked by the ref for a robust challenge. AWF finished the match worthy of their 3-0 win.
After five games, AWF topped the league as undefeated champions with 11 points from a possible 15, scoring ten and conceding two, which is a testament to all players and management contributing to a resounding success for AWF and the East Region.

Report by A. Harrison

Arbroath Walking Football. Scottish Champions 2022. Pictured with Craig Brown and Matt Ramsay

AWF started their final three games in the East league with a fixture against St. Andrews.
The AWF starting team was: Waddell, Skelly, G. Smith, K. Craib, Durno, and S. Cargill. W. Craib, Scott, Gordon, and Harrison in reserve.

This was a one-sided affair, with Waddell a mere spectator in the AWF goals. Goal scorers Steve Cargill (2). K. Craib and A. Gordon secured the points.
Next up was St. James, who had just lost 1-0 to a very impressive Crieff team; this meant AWF needed a win to have a chance of winning the league.
With so much at stake, this match was always going to be very competitive. The game was littered with fouls which, to be fair to the referee, he handled pretty well.
Cargill worked the St. James keeper (fellow Arbroathian Beattie) with a fine effort.
Soon after, a misplaced pass from AWF set up a St. James forward whose finish gave Waddell no chance to put the defending champions 1-0 up.
The game was more open now, Skelly, in particular, putting himself about and winning some strong tackles.
AWF eventually levelled the game after some superb link-up play saw Cargill fire in the equaliser.
Both teams pushed for the winner, and a slick move from St. James saw them regain the lead and finish the match as winners.

AWF had one game left against Tayport, and a win for AWF and barring Crieff winning by a large margin would see them qualify for the “champions league” tournament at Ravenscraig on 11th December.
AWF started on the front foot and was soon in the ascendancy. It was Cargill who broke the deadlock with a great strike.
Tayport looked dangerous on the break, and Arbroath was unlucky not to convert the great chances they created. It was left to Cargill to put AWF 2-0 ahead, but the tension was creeping into AWF play, and Tayport pulled a goal back to leave a very tense last five minutes remaining.
Waddell then made a fine save to preserve the lead as AWF saw out the remainder of the game.
AWF finished a creditable second with two goals to the better than Crieff, who look like a formidable team in their first season in the league.
St. James again proved to be worthy winners, but AWF, managed by G Mckenzie, ensured they had to work hard for it.

Arbroath is proving again that they are one of the top teams in the east league region.

On to the champions league next.

Match report by Hatchet

East League Runner’s up 2022

Would all members please note that the club AGM will take place at 7 pm on the 27th of October 2022 in the champions lounge at Gayfield.

With Dunfermline Dynamos being unable to field a team, AWF was awarded a 3-0 win, as were the other teams scheduled to play them.
First up for AWF was Fairfield, a strong team, and manager Mckenzie elected to stick with a winning team.
AWF started with P. Bell in goals, P. Skelly and G. Smith in defence, K. Craib and A. Durno in midfield and S. Cargill up front. In reserve were W. Craib, D. Scott, S. Kear and A. Harrison.
AWF started strongly and looked the most likely to score, and after some good defending and fine attacking play, it was S. Cargill who finished with aplomb to make it 1-0.
The whole team were playing well, and a fine effort from Fairfield brought a great save from Bell.
AWF had the best chances, with Cargill, Craib and Smith keeping the Fairfield keeper busy.
With time running out, the Fairfield goalie misplaced a pass to Cargill, and he fired home to make it 2-0. W. Craib replaced Skelly and AWF finished the game as deserved winners.

There was a long wait for the next game against Fife Wanderers, and manager Mckenzie retained the same starting team.
AWF started on the front foot and was soon on the ascendancy with some good link-up play between K. Craib and Cargill, K Craib opening the scoring with a well-placed strike.
G. Smith then showed his prowess to make it 2-0 as AWF piled on the pressure. K Craib curled in a superb strike to make it 3-0.
AWF continued to press, and G.Smith finished smoothly to make it 4-0. Fife Wanderers snatched a goal to make it 4-1, but G. Smith thundered in a shot from a distance to make 5-1 as AWF finished the game strongly.

The last game was a friendly between Crieff Juniors, and manager Mckenzie started those who hadn’t played in the previous games, with Bell remaining in goals and veteran Durno retaining his place.
AWF looked a bit disjointed with the changes and struggled to find any rhythm in the game, with Crieff looking the stronger of the two sides.
Crieff quickly punished some slack passing and raced to a 2-0 lead. AWF had a few chances to get on the scoresheet and a Smith corner setup Harrison whose shot hit the post and went out for a goal kick.
Crieff had a pacey attack and capitalised on errors to run out comfortable winners 5-0. However, AWF achieved their goal of winning their two league games today, as they stay in contention at the top of the table.

Match report By Allan (Hatchet) Harrison.