TALENTED footballers are often said to have a knack of playing at their own pace – and there’s plenty of opportunity to do just that for the more senior performers thanks to a new South Gloucestershire initiative, writes Simon Parkinson.

Yate Active Lifestyle Centre, with the support of its long-serving session facilitator Mike Jones, provides a stage for thrice-weekly football activity for the over-50s, and whether enthusiastic participants walk or jog around the main hall with ball at feet for the hour-long stretches is very much down to the individual.

The sessions are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3pm in term times and Wednesdays only, at 1pm, during school holidays.

And the format for the fun is simple – just turn up and play.

It’s one that is already proving a winner a little more than a month since its introduction, to the delight of Mike who explained: “Around 18 months ago it was suggested to me that walking football might be considered at Yate Active Lifestyle Centre and being the football man that I am I looked hard at it and got it off the ground.

“That said, it was slow going and we’re not talking about the speed of the players! Only three or four regulars turned up initially using half a court at the centre. But we stuck with it and there came a point at which numbers gradually built up as players began telling their friends and it’s great that those few who were there from the start continue to come.

“Some people started asking whether they could run during the sessions instead of being restricted to walking and that’s when I got in touch with Jack Stanbury more recently at Gloucestershire FA to see what the score was with all that.

“He suggested we got involved with the FA’s Just Play scheme, which in essence is about people turning up and paying to play on a casual basis, whenever suits them, and enjoy football recreationally without any ties to competitive or organised leagues.

“We wanted to provide a format that enabled people to walk or jog, and jog really is the word as nobody takes off like a Ferrari it goes without saying!

“We made up rules as we went along to suit the players and such was the interest then that we had 20 people turning up one afternoon, which led to us putting on two more regular sessions.

“The upshot is we have a maximum of 14 players partaking in any one session and if we get up to those numbers then we’re able to put on seven-a-side games.

“If there are fewer participants then we’ll make it five-a-side and develop it as best we can, and if we have to operate with rush goalies, as we used to call it, then so be it.”

Former Stoke Park FC inside-right Mike, who also oversees children’s football sessions at the same Yate complex on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and also manages children’s dry activities across all Active Centre sites, said of the initiative: “It’s all extremely sociable yet there’s a competitive element to it, so there’s a general agreement that it’s played in the right spirit.

“Some guys are so enthusiastic that they play twice, even the maximum three times a week. For those that play a lot if makes sense for them to become full members of our Active Centres, which means they can use the facilities at our centres in Longwell Green, Bradley Stoke, Kingswood and Thornbury as well as in Yate. And we’d love to take this type of slower-paced football to those venues too.

“Everyone who plays can run to a certain degree but if anyone is of an age and condition which, let’s say, lessens their mobility, then others do respect that and it makes for a nice atmosphere.

“You can see that some have played at a high standard of regular local football and the banter among them is still alive and kicking!”

Anyone wishing to know more about the Just Play football sessions for the over-50s can call Yate Active Lifestyle Centre on 0300 333 0300.