Strays Receive a Walking Football Masterclass!
15th May 2025 - Presentation from Stuart Langworthy BEM
Following a request to the Walking Football Association, the Strays Over 60s, Over 65s and Over 70s managers were presented with a 90-minute walking football masterclass from the WFA Over 60s Team Manager, Stuart Langworthy, and what an eye opener it turned out to be!
The presentation was informative and clear; the slides were presented along with the history of the WFA. The explanation of the walking football ethos, mindset and approach was excellent, the aim being to assist the Strays managers in their quest to move the club forward through the provision of training and tactical lessons from the highest level of walking football in England.
The Strays Management Committee and its management team wish to thank Stuart for providing both the material and his time. The input from the WFA and especially Stuart was very much appreciated. The presentation and explanations provided us with a much better insight in how to move our training sessions forward for the benefit of all our players.
Derek Rowe
Over 70’s Team Manager
Our latest Club Day - Sunday 27th April
The JW (Just Walking) Memorial Trophy
Having organised a testimonial tournament last year on behalf of a deceased former player, John Wilcock, we were delighted to contribute, at John's family's behest, £600 to St. Gemma's Hospice.
Even more so because that sum was doubled, thanks to a programme operated at the time by corporate sponsors! Since then our club has sadly witnessed the loss of another former member, as well as the enforced retirement of some players through serious illness and/or debilitating injury.
A decision was therefore taken to honour all members who can no longer participate in walking football, for whatever reason, by holding an annual charity tournament, henceforth to be known as the JW (Just Walking) Memorial Cup, with St. Gemma's to remain the chosen beneficiary of all proceeds.
This year's event took place at Rossett Sports Centre, and featured an enjoyable round robin tournament played out in glorious conditions. Players heeded the nature of the competition by playing in a suitable spirit of fair play, and the matches were well contested throughout. Eventually a winning team emerged to clinch the Roadrunner Trophy donated by and presented by John's son, Ted.
When the very generous donations made by club members were calculated, we were extremely pleased to discover that we had collected a magnificent £1,150, a total almost twice as much as last year (and almost matching the total achieved when doubled by the sponsor). A superb effort for a superb cause - well done all!
Bernie O'Brien
Chairman.
Debbie plays for WFA North Women
Strays player Debbie Naylor recently represented the WFA North Women's team, Here's her report...
The WFA North Women’s Regional squad trains at Bolton Arena and competes in the WFA Women’s Super League against four other regional teams at 40/50/60 age groups. Matches are played three times a season, at Oxstalls Sports Park in Gloucester (a very good facility, but a very long drive!). After training recently with the squad, I was selected to play in the final round of games of the 2024/25 season. At this point, reigning champions North stood second in the table, three points behind South East. The task was simple; we had to beat South East and match their results in the other games to retain the title thanks to a far superior goal difference.
The long journey proved worthwhile, and a 2-0 victory in the key match coupled with a win and two draws against the other regions meant we were duly declared Super League Champions for the second season in a row. My new teammates and Manager Steve Glover made me feel instantly welcome and I played a part in all four games, even managing to score one of our goals. The whole tournament was played in a great spirit, with the most notable difference from the men’s game being that absolutely NO physical contact was tolerated by the referees. England 60’s Manager Heather Kirkland was present, and I learned that several of the North team already have caps, so something to aim for there! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and an honour to be able to fly the flag for Harrogate Strays in a regional competition.
Debbie
16th March 2025
Debbie is pictured on the left of the front row with her successful squad members
Club Day - 23rd February 2025
A great day's football and a buffet at the Empress to finish!
On a blustery day at Rossett, the rain that had been predicted never really arrived to dampen the spirits on Harrogate Strays' latest club day. A 5-team tournament unfolded with some lively walking football, proved to be very evenly contested and witnessed fluctuating fortunes.
In the first two rounds, the Yellows were anything but mellow, surging to two 1-0 victories to set the early pace at the top of the table and looking like the team to beat. That proved misleading, as the Yellows subsequently lost their next two matches to end up on 6 points. The Reds did the reverse, opening up with two narrow defeats before turning the tables with two wins in their final games to also complete their fixtures with 6 points. Would that same pattern repeat with the Blues, who, albeit courtesy of a couple of deflected goals, won their first two games only to fall foul of the resurgent Greys in game three? At the same time as the Greys were notching their second victory, on the adjoining pitch any suggestion of a collapse was put to bed as the Blues comfortably beat the Greens by three goals to top the table on 9 points.
In the final analysis the Blues had three wins out of four, while the Reds, Greys and Yellows all won two and lost two. Had the Greens beaten the Blues in that final game, all five teams would have ended with 6 points, but defeat left the Greens at the bottom of the pile on 3 points. But the most satisfying thing was that everyone enjoyed the football and played in the right spirit.
Thanks to Phil Solity for refereeing throughout on Pitch 1 and to the various referees who officiated on Pitch 2. And finally thanks to our media maestro Paul Rogers for attending and recording events. For more photos, click on the image above or go to our 2025 Gallery.
Bernie, Rod and Tom
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Our Over 70s currently sit second in the league!
The 70s Alliance West Walking Football League table:
Following matches played on February 4th 2025
Strays latest social raises more money for our charity!
Club social on Sunday October 27th 2024
Another successful social event for the club followed our normal pattern, of an intra-club tournament at Rossett Sports Centre, followed by a buffet and drinks at our local, the Shepherds Dog, all in aid of our nominated charity, Leeds-based Candlelighters, who support families facing children's cancer in Yorkshire.
Five teams took part in the walking football games, and the Green team came out on top, taking ten points from their four games and pipping the Blues, who won two and drew two. The luckless Greys took the wooden spoon with no points and no goals, but a good time was had by all, and the games were played in a good spirit!
Players and members were asked to make a minimum £10 donation to our charity, and the total raised, including an anonymous donation of £590, totalled £1180. On top of this, members donated raffle prizes and the raffle raised a further £325, meaning that Candlelighters will benefit to the tune of £1,505; a fantastic amount and a great team effort from all at Strays! Since the club was founded (in October 2023), we have raised £1776 for this worthy charity.
Thanks to everyone who contributed towards the success of this event, whether by donating, providing raffle prizes; putting on a fabulous buffet (thanks to our friends at the Shepherds Dog) and to referees and persistent raffle ticket sellers!
Rod Clifton
Secretary
Over 70s National Finals - Our opponents await!
Strays to play in WFLA National Cup Finals Day
We now know, that in addition to Leggy Mambos, our Over 70s will be facing Birmingham WFC, Boston United, Bournemouth Reds and WFC Kingston in the Walking Football Leagues Alliance Finals at the Valley Stadium Redditch, the home of Redditch United, on Saturday September 7th. Good luck fellas!
UPDATE: See how we got on in the match report section / 2024
Harrogate Strays Over 70s into WFLA National Finals!
Over 70s qualify for WFLA National Cup Finals Day!
We’re through! After an anxious wait to discover the results of the Midlands Group games (with only the best placed runner up from both groups qualifying), we now have confirmation that Harrogate Strays Over 70s will join Leggy Mambos from the North Group in the National Finals of the Walking Football Leagues Alliance (WFLA) National Cup. The finals are to be played over 7th-8thSeptember at the Valley Stadium in Redditch. Well done Derek and squad for this fabulous achievement, in what is our first season of competition!
Steven Fort - World Champion!
England Over 70s win inaugural World Cup
Congratulations to our own Steven Fort, who represented England at the IWFF World Cup competition at the SMH Group Stadium, home of Chesterfield FC, on the weekend of 17th-19th May 2024.
England remained unbeaten in their 7 games, with wins over Sweden (2-1), Northern Ireland (1-0), Gibraltar (2-0), and Wales (3-0) and draws in games against France, Norway and Australia.
We're proud of you, Steven!
Colin to make england debut
Colin Stringellow - England Over 75 international!
Congratulations to our own Colin Stringfellow, who has been selected for the WFA 75s England squad to meet the Republic of Ireland at Evesham on 12th June. This is a well-deserved honour, and we wish Colin and his England colleagues the best of luck!