PSV Eindhoven hosts Walking Football League
Today saw EFDN member PSV Eindhoven hosting a total of eight teams who competed for the second and final round of the Old Stars Walking Football League Championship. Kicking off proceedings was a match between a German and Netherlands select which included a mixture of former international and local players.
Walking Football is as the name suggests, a normal game of football with the only difference being that the players must walk instead of run. It’s aimed at older age groups who have generally been out of reach of grassroots sports clubs and sport based community organisations.
The Walking Football League tournament is a direct result of the EFDN organised European Legends Festival which was the flagship event of the Erasmus + Sport co-funded programme which took place on the 18th to 20th of September 2017 at the iconic Dutch national sporting centre, Papendal, in Arnhem. One of the major outputs from the programme was the methodology which was developed along with the project participants (13 EFDN member clubs) and the creation of the EFDN Walking Football Practitioners Guide.
Today’s tournament at PSV’s training ground saw former Dutch professional footballers Harry Lubse, Jan Poortvliet and Eef Mulders and Jan Poortvliet play for the Netherlands, while former German national players (and both former Bundesliga top scorers) Klaus Fischer and Martin Max were on the winning German team.
Immediately, after the Netherlands and German select match, the Second Round of the Walking Football League Tournament Kicked off. Competing alongside PSV Eindhoven were teams from Schalke 04, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburg, Vitesse Arnhem, NEC Nijmegen and FC Twente, with all of these teams having played in the first round matches in Leverkusen in September 2018.
