History

It was in June 2017, while watching TV from his couch in North Lakes (Queensland, Australia), when Alan Templeton saw a news report that would change his life. The story was about a group of elderly former professional footballers in England who still wanted to play the game they loved but no longer had the stamina nor the physical ability to “run” after a ball. So, instead, this group of senior players came up with a slower-paced version of small-field football, which was easy on their joints, required minimal effort, and still provided them with a great deal of enjoyment – they called it “walking” football.

Motivated by this story, Alan – himself a former S.A. Rothman’s and N.A.S.A. league player – decided walking football was something he very much wanted to try. However, despite his best efforts, Alan was unable to find anyone offering organised walking football in Southeast Queensland. Not to be deterred, Alan decided to take matters into his own hands and began thinking of ways to establish his own walking football group. To begin with, Alan needed to find a suitable venue in which to play walking football, a search that eventually led to an agreement for a regular once-a-week social walking football session at iPlaySports Centre (now known as Northside Indoor Sport & Fitness) in North Lakes. Next, Alan established a trading name: ‘Walking Football Brisbane’. Then, he set up a website and a Facebook page with which to reach out to other like-minded football enthusiasts. And, finally, after many months of planning, Alan’s efforts were realised when Walking Football Brisbane held its first ever session of social walking football from 3-5pm at iPlaySports in North Lakes on Sunday 07 January 2018.