ABOUT

Players line up for an historic photo before the first recorded walking football match at Browns, circa 1915 (or maybe 2015!).

Walking Football (WF) in the Algarve was initiated, around the end of 2014, by Chris Wright, a local journalist and sports enthusiast and Honorary President of East Algarve Walking Football (EAWF). Chris always had a passion for the beautiful game, writing sport columns in the Algarve local press. He considered ways to develop the game, on a less energetic theme. Seeing the growth of WF in the UK, he believed this was an ideal development to introduce to the Algarve.

WF began at S.C. Olhanense FC, on the adjacent astro turf pitch, meeting at the tiny bar across the street. Numbers soon grew and eventually three guys from the hills decided to give it a go, driving around 45 to 60 minutes to get to Olhao (depending on who’s car was used). Picture right shows Roger, Dave and Brian (the 3 Hillbillies) plus Alan Brown of Browns Sports.

Browns showed interest in the game and considered that the facilities they had available would be suitable for a Central Algarve base for WF. The first game there took place on Tuesday 23rd February 2015, against Olhao, who continued to support the development at WF to help establish a playing base in the area. Before long, more locals players started turning up, following an advert in the local press, and it looked good for a while. When numbers started dropping, the first recruitment campaign got under way. The campaign, plus a decision to invite family, friends and visitors to play, saw a steady growth in membership, although occasionally sessions were cancelled due to insufficient players.

The first Browns WF Tournament was held on 9th and 10th October 2015.

By 2019 the WF club was firmly established, although still short on players due to holidays, trips to see families and the occasional injuries, at different times of the year. The next stumbling block for the growth of WF came in 2020 with the Covid pandemic, which obviously had a big impact on attendance. WF had to wait until April 2021 to restart sessions, although the long layoff resulted in losing a number of members.

October 2021 saw a new WF club management duo elected, with Chairman Ron Barker being joined by Alan Ryan as Club Coordinator, after Secretary Henry Lee decided to step down. This was followed in October 2022 with more changes; Ron stepping down from his Chairman role to become Honorary President, Alan taking on the Club Manager role and the election of Ian Street as Media and Tournaments Coordinator. This period saw a sizable growth in the club and the branding of Central Algarve Walking Football Club (CAWF).

Happy smiling chappies in the spacious new venue at Quarteira.

The growth in membership however, caused some problems, trying to accommodate 22+ players on one 5 a side pitch. It became evident that the Sports Centre could not accommodate such numbers and therefore members of the club reluctantly decided to leave, to become affiliated with CDR Quarteirense.

By Dave J. Linsley