Strays Support for Candlelighters Continues
We've supported 'The Big Give' Christmas Challenge 2025
We are proud to announce that due to the amazing generosity of our membership, Harrogate Strays have been able to donate £3,350 (excluding Gift-Aid) to our sponsored charity Candlelighters.
However, the good news doesn't stop there. As we made our donation through The Big Give Christmas Challenge, our donation has been doubled, meaning that Candlelighters have received over £7,000!
This, added to the £1150 donation we made to St Gemma's Hospice in memory of our former player John Wilcock, and £950 previously donated to Candlelighters, means that we have donated over £9,000 for charitable causes since April this year.
From Candlelighters: "The Christmas Challenge utilises our Pledge Model of match funding. This model allows supporters of participating charities to have their donations doubled with match funds provided by the charity’s own supporters (pledgers) and Big Give’s Champion partners.
Candlelighters | Support children with cancer this Christmas
Tom Robinson
Treasurer
HSWFC
Strays' referees Attend FA TraINING cOURSE
Back in December Bernie O'Brien, George Robertson and Steve Williams attended the FA Walking Football Referee course hosted by the East Riding County FA (as the picture shows, the outdoor bit was cold and wet!). As part of the course, some participants were also interviewed on camera, and George and Steve feature prominently in the video..
More recently, Derek Rowe attended the same course run by the North Riding FA, bringing the number of qualified referees within our club to six, with our two tournament-qualified referees being Phil Solity and Rich Abbott.
Click on the image to view the video of the course..
Update on IWFF World Championships 2025 - Malmo, Sweden
England Women Over 60s - World Champions!
England Women Over 60s - World Champions!
England Women Over 60s - World Champions!
England Women's Over 60s took the world title after beating Norway 2-1 in the final, with our own Debbie Naylor playing a full part in the victory! Debbie is pictured 4th right.
Click on the photo for a link to the tournament results
A message from our world champion!
I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone at Harrogate Strays for helping to make my dreams come true with England in Malmo last weekend. To Jo for introducing me to walking football and to Strays club. To Bernie, Rod and Tom for encouraging me, selecting me for the 60’s, and giving me the confidence to strive for more.To the entire 60s squad for making me feel so welcome and an integral part of the team. To Steven Fort for recommending me to the IWFF, without which I would never have had that chance to compete for a place. And of course, to EVERYONE at the club for being so friendly and inclusive, and making training so much fun. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could play for my country, let alone win a world championship at 65 years old. It couldn't have happened without your support and encouragement.
Thank you, Harrogate Strays.
Debbie x
The Club Management Committee congratulated Debbie on behalf of the club:
The entire club is extremely proud to see you achieve this recent success at national level. This is a credit to your personal desire to improve and to challenge yourself. We're delighted that this resulted in the opportunity for you to conquer the world!
Bernie, Rod and Tom
England Men Over 75s - Runners Up!
England Women Over 60s - World Champions!
England Women Over 60s - World Champions!
It wasn't to be for England Over 75s, who reached the final only to be beaten on penalties by Norway (again!). But we're super proud of Steven Fort for continuing to represent our club and our country, with distinction! Steven is pictured centre front.
Click on the photo for a link to the tournament results
Two Strays players to represent England
Congratulations Debbie and Steven!
Strays' players Debbie Naylor (pictured) and Steven Fort, will be in Malmo, Sweden for the International Walking Football Federation World Championships to be held from 4th-6th July 2025.
Debbie is playing for the Over 60s Women, and Steven for the Over 75s Men.
Steven has already tasted success in the inaugural competition held last year (see previous article) while Debbie is making her debut.
We wish both them every success!
Over 70s in Northern & Western Counties League Tournament
Hessle, Tuesday 15th July
Harrogate Strays are taking our over 70s competitive players to a 16 team tournament constituted from the Northern and Western Counties League, in the hope that the squad can retain the cup from last years success at the same event.
Along with the squad, the Strays will be represented at an Over 75s Select game by fielding our very own England Stalwarts, Lawrie Coutthard and Colin Stringfellow.
The Strays will also be fielding our most recently qualified referee, Richard Abbot, in support of the competition, and we hope he is selected to be involved in the final in some capacity, which would be an honour for Richard, and an example as to how far he has progressed as an official.
The draw from the teams entered is eagerly anticipated. those teams are:
EAST:
Grimsby Corinthians, Scarborough Barons, Hornsea Town, Cottingham Rangers, Hull Mixed A, Hessle Sporting, Ruston, Area Make Up A, Area Make Up B
WEST:
Bradford City, Doncaster Dynamos, Harrogate Strays, Leeds Titans, Leggy Mambos, Wakefield A, Wakefield B
REFEREES:
- Lead Referee. Mick Hill
- East - Tony Mulloy, Steve Allen, Mark Leighton, Bob Williamson, Steve Mills
- West - Mark Peacock, Dave Holbrook, Chris Akers, Richard Abbot, Mick Lowley
CHARITIES:
Four charities will benefit, including Strays sponsor "CandleLighters" and a Just Giving Page will be announced in due course.
AFTER MATCH ENTERTAINMENT
- Open Mic session
- A yukulele band, featuring one of our referees, Tony Mulloy
- A young lady, daughter of a Leeds Titans player, singing Irish ballards
- A raffle with prizes donated by each team
- Irish Bingo
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
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
Our Over 70s currently sit second in the league!
The 70s Alliance West Walking Football League table:
Following matches played on February 4th 2025
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!