Mansfield Town’s walking football side make an unbeaten start

The Senior Stags enjoyed an unbeaten start to life as a team – winning their first ever competitive match 1-0, before coming from a goal down to draw their second game 1-1, against two sides from the established Mansfield Senior Reds Walking Football Club.

Since starting the group in early December 2018, numbers have continuously grown with those aged over 45 attending weekly training sessions designed to give participants an active lifestyle despite their age, as well as getting those back playing football that had to stop due to injuries.

The sessions, led by Community Coach Alex Cartwright, have worked on fitness and tactics over the last few weeks, as participants prepared for their first match as a team.

“What we need is the competitive element of the game, and night’s such as this really helps to bring that to the forefront.” said Alex.

“They’ve performed to a really high level which is brilliant, as you could see it’s more than just the physical element – it’s the social element too, people having to communicate with one another, bond over the same thing and make new friends.

“All round it’s amazing for people and I think everyone who comes and plays really benefits.”

Further matches are planned for the group over the coming months and new participants are welcome to attend either of the two Football in the Community Walking Football sessions, which run on Saturday’s at the One Call Stadium (9-10am away match days & 9-10.30am on home match days) and Wednesday’s at the RH Academy 6-7pm.