Saints Walking Football in Kirkcudbright hosted a Football Festival v Annan Athletic FC last week at St. Mary’s Park in Kirkcudbright. Each club fielded two teams and a mini-league was played under the watchful eye of top-flight referee Andy Halliday MBE under Scottish Walking Football rules. Before kick-off, a commemorative pennant was presented to Jacky Bell of Annan by John Winter, Saints Players Player of the year for 2023.
Games were competitive, but played in a spirit of friendship and fun. Annan took first and fourth positions in the final points tally, and Saints teams came in second and third. As always in walking football, though, the results were less important than the joy of playing and good banter, which continued over sandwiches and hot drinks after the game.
Fair play awards selected by Andy Halliday went to John Winter from Saints and Brian Winters from Annan. Man of the Match awards went to Gerry Baxter from Annan and Mark Wilgose, leading the way as captain of Saints Blue team.
Gordon Hyslop, Annan’s Player-Manager, who scored a fine penalty in one of the games, commented, “We received top hospitality from the Kirkcudbright players. All matches were played in good spirits and we have invited Saints back to Galabank for the return fixture”.
Craig Fabian, from Saints added, “Walking Football is all about playing football with a smile on your face for the pure fun of it, and for fitness of course. We saw all of that today and it was great to see all of the players mixing and chatting over sandwiches in the sunshine after the game”.
Any ability, including people who have never played football before are welcome to give Walking Football a try. If you’re interested in giving it a go, call Craig on 07493 777855 or email: [email protected]
