By Josh Chesters

They are third in the league and been going since around 2018, not bad for a team where half of them had never kicked a ball before joining. Coach Geoff Chesters has expressed his immense pride over the group:

“The team we have here is a fully developed team. The girls have developed the team themselves, and that’s something they deserve a lot of reward and applause for, because they have literally taken it upon themselves to take this on.” 

Recently detaching from Pompey in the Community, which started the initiative, the team continues to train and play of their own accord. This is a team consisting of regular players of the game, to those who do not consider themselves sporting at all.

This is football with a twist, no ball above head height, no running – it’s WALKING Football – and it is for everyone.

Emma Young, who had played for AFC Portchester made the transition to walking football and explains the difficulties faced: “It’s a lot slower; this is a lot more passing and moving more precisely. You haven’t got as much time on the ball;you’ve got to get rid of it quicker”

Training at the new King George V football complex, the team consists of women over 40. The team have managed to play the likes of bitter rivals Southampton and more established teams like Crystal Palace, always giving good accounts of themselves.

It has proven to be a relatively new game, even for the more experienced players such as Cath Lovegrove:

“You can’t play the ball into space too much, because no one will be running onto it. So, you can’t play those long balls into space, because they’ll just run off the pitch and go out of play.”

The team are happy to welcome anyone from those looking to better themselves in football or just looking for an opportunity in the game. 

For further information, find them on Facebook at Portsmouth Ladies Walking Football Team or by messaging Emma Young or Geoff Chesters in the Facebook group.