GMWF League 2020 Review & 2021 Preview
GMWF League 2020 Review & 2021 Preview
This will be a short article as you would expect due to the Covid-19 pandemic stopping all grassroots football.
With the Greater Manchester Walking Football League going from strength to strength, in early March we started 2020 full of optimism for the Spring league. We had twenty teams in the over 60s league, fourteen in the over 65s league and eight in the over 70s league, slightly down by two teams from the 2019 Autumn season.
The first session of the over 60s league Divisions 1 and 2 was played on 5th March and Divisions 3 and 4 on 12th March. Then the first social distancing recommendation was announced on 16th March, followed by an announcement from the FA for all organised grassroots football to be cancelled. This put paid to the first planned sessions of the over 65s and over 70s leagues.
The decision was taken to void all the results in the over 60s league with no prospect of any fixtures for the foreseeable future. A few teams were playing friendly fixtures during the easing of restrictions in the Summer and Autumn but this again ceased on 2nd December.
Hopes were high that we could return to action in the 2020 Autumn league, unfortunately this wasn’t to be and the year finished with even more tighter restrictions, a year none of us will ever forget with many colleagues, friends and family members catching the virus. Thankfully, most recovered.
We lost a couple of players in 2020, David Seel of Bury Relics passed away in January and Jim Morgan of Blackpool Senior Seasiders died in December, neither from the virus.
The turn of the year again brought hopes of a restart in the 2021 Spring league due to commence on 4th March. This again is highly unlikely with the third lockdown and current restrictions being reviewed on 22nd February. The latest talk is that the lockdown will probably last until 31st March at least and even then with very little hope of any easing of the restrictions. Today, at the time of writing, the talk is of even tighter restrictions.
So it’s anyone’s guess when the GMWFL will resume. The vaccine gives us some optimism but by the time all our members over 60 are vaccinated it may be be late Summer. It’s certainly been a frustrating, unprecedented time for us all, missing the sport we have come to love but many have lost far more than a leisure activity.
To paraphrase General Douglas MacArthur, on the US armies retreat from the Philippines in WW2, “We shall return.” Or one from C.S Lewis that Paul Gardner has just emailed: “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind”
Comments welcome below.
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Hi Bill, a lovely piece for your players and congratulations again on those team stats. There’s absolutely no doubt every single player across the land will be itching to make their return when safe to do so. What a beautiful thing walking football is!
Hi All, like everyone else was under starters orders until this new virus showed up, but grin and bear it, we will return older, slower but with much more enthusiasm for the time missed, take care all.
Evening all and well done on all the great work you are doing. I am 50 tomorrow so am at the beginning of my walking football journey. Is there an over 50s league in the pipeline? Cheers Mark.
We only cater for the 60+ walking footballers and have no plans to lower the age category to over 50s.
Thanks Bill for the contact. Hopefully we’ll be able to resume the over 70s league first after vaccination. There has to be some compensation for being old! This long layoff may prolong our careers. There’s nothing any of us can do but stay in, keep safe and wait. Let’s hope there is a dramatic fall in the numbers and we get on top of this dreadful virus. Cheers.
Well said Kevin, yes it has definitely been a 2nd chance at football and in a great well organised league. Well done to all, can’t wait to be back.
Bill: Appreciate you taking the time to contact clubs/groups about the current state of play or more accurately the lack of it. These are dark days indeed for many of us. Losing our game represents just one of the many restrictions and challenges we face. With more draconian measures beckoning (probably rightly), we appreciate your communication. As the days get ever so slightly longer, the weather eventually a little warmer and the hope of a vaccine led recovery to something perhaps approaching normality later in the year, we wish you well in your efforts to get the various competitions back on track eventually. Our members have been given a link to this page. Thanks.
Alan, just had a read of your excellent article on David Gibbons, ex Manchester City player who plays at your sessions. Our readers on here may also be interested.
Cheers Bill. He’s a smashing bloke with an interesting football back story.
Things can only get better.
It’s been a very sad year for grassroots football throughout the whole country. We have missed the GMWFL very much due to the lockdown, particularly as we regard this as the best League Organisation in existence for us older players.
A lot of the hard work that has gone into the past 5 years will not go to waste though. When we return (most of us in a higher age group!) I am sure that we can continue where we left off. We look forward to meeting up with all our old friends. Some of us will be a little slower (not a bad thing) and greyer, but the enthusiasm will still be there as well as all the old silky skills previously demonstrated.
Best regards to all our footballing friends at GMWFL.
Steve Hyde (on behalf of Blackpool FC Senior Seasiders)
We shall return bigger and better.
Thanks for this Bill, it’s great that you make the effort to keep everyone involved, was going to wonder where you get the time but these days it’s in plentiful supply for all of us I guess!
Like you, and I’m sure all of our Walking Football friends, I am simply sitting tight and waiting for the day when we can resume our second chance football careers.
Can’t wait, until then take care everyone, be patient and stay safe, we’ll get there. Cheers.