Field of Dreams

On what type of pitch do you play Walking Football?

Probably quite rare these days but are you still playing on freshly cut grass? Unless it's a more professional facility you'll find it's not quite level, has days when its bone hard or muddy soft, but always provides a handy excuse for poor control or the hugely wayward shot, with the shout "The ball bobbled".

Then there are the carpet like hockey pitches. Often a little longer and narrower than a normal Walking Football pitch, the hockey carpet is fast and smooth. The ball really pings around. Another feature that often accompanies these pitches are the very wide and low goals. Playing crossbar height with these goals means the ball never goes above waist height.

Most popular these days are the 3G/4G pitches (and no, I have no idea what it means or what's the difference). Not only do you find different playing surfaces in terms of quality and length of synthetic grass, but the way the pitches are enclosed also comes into play.

At one end you get the Goals type facilities, which are small sized pitches that are fully boarded around all four sides. These also have the wide low goals and as feature, because you play off the boards, all the bags and coats get thrown behind the goals. There are normally eight or ten of these small sized pitches bunched together along with one larger pitch at the end. The narrow corridor between the pitches is a busy thoroughfare with parents and players peeping through the wire to see the skills displayed inside.

Then there are the Schools and College pitches. These are often a vast expanse of artificial ground that can house a full size football pitch or can be divided into halves or quarters, depending on need. These are often great quality and provide excellent opportunities to run after the ball following that wayward shot or pass, that ends up way over the other side.

Then there are the Walking Football clubs who share a ground with their parent football club. These are the top class artificial pitches used by any club up to National League level. Whilst the pitch and ground are great, you do have to work your time on the pitch based around when the first team aren't playing or training, or when the Ladies team aren't doing the same. After all, Walking Football is good but it's not real football.

Outside of all the above there are the Sports or Leisure Centre facilities that are home to some teams. They typically resemble the Schools and College model but can work out to be more expensive to hire. There are some die-hards that still play inside the School Gym or Sports Hall, as a hybrid Walking Football Five-a-side. though these can be hard on knees for some players.

As a final passing thought, I did use to play at a club that hosted sessions in one of the player's back garden. Thankfully, it was not like my garden where it would be a maximum of two and a dog on each side, but was a brilliant setup, with a wonderful host, that regularly saw seven or eight per side.