As the summer of 2022 draws to a close we may look back at periods of record-breaking temperatures when we desperately sought shade, dreamt of cloudy days and celebrated the eventual arrival of rain.
This is a sentiment rarely experienced here in England, one almost as rare as seeing an England football team win at a major international tournament. So, alongside the successes of The Lionesses at Wembley in July, this combination of events made it a summer to remember.
The heat and lack of rain brought inevitable comparisons with the summer of 1976 when parts of England received no rain for a period of 45 days.
Some of us are old enough to remember that year and, perhaps with rather less clarity, the summer 10 years before that when, on June 30, 1966, the England Football Team last won a major tournament.
Since those heady days of Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks, Geoff Hurst and the Charlton brothers, football has featured to a greater and lesser extent in our own lives too.
As we grew in strength, speed and stature, perhaps we also enjoyed our own forms of glory on the pitch – scoring goals, making saves and knowing the ups and downs of winning and losing.
As the years passed we came to accept we could no longer tear down the wing, deliver passes with laser-like precision and celebrate success with summersaults.
What we do celebrate though is the invention of Walking Football, the version of the beautiful game that affords us an opportunity to play football, in spite of maturity of years, where friendship and fun is paramount.
Twice a week at Cantley, on Monday and Friday mornings, the Woodley Pensioners Walking Football Team assemble for an hour of football followed by an equally long cup of coffee and conversation.
We no longer dream of ascending the Wembley steps to raise ‘the cup’ in triumph. We’re just happy, after playing, to wander up the concrete steps to lift a cup of coffee and chatter at the cafe.
Besides our regular sessions this autumn, we will participate in some more competitive tournaments with teams of over 50s, over 60s and over 65s and we aim to take a lead from the Lionesses and field a women’s team one day too.
We know our limits and certainly will not harbour dreams of achieving fame and glory like the Lionesses or that team from 1966.
Remembering those rare moments of sporting success brings to mind the famous commentary by Kenneth Wolstenholme as the final whistle blew at the 1966 World Cup final, “…they think it’s all over, it is now”. If we had once thought of our own playing days as “all over”, then, thanks to walking football, we are able to say “It’s not now!”.
By Stephen Bond
