About

History

THE HISTORY OF WALKING FOOTBALL BRISBANE INC.

It all started in 2017 with a TV news story and one man’s unrelenting determination.

It was in June 2017, while watching TV from his couch in North Lakes (Queensland, Australia), when Alan Templeton saw a news report that would change his life. The story was about a group of elderly former professional footballers in England who still wanted to play the game they loved but no longer had the stamina nor the physical ability to “run” after a ball. So, instead, this group of senior players came up with a slower-paced version of small-field football, which was easy on their joints, required minimal effort, and still provided them with a great deal of enjoyment – they called it “walking” football.

Motivated by this story, Alan – himself a former S.A. Rothman’s and N.A.S.A. league player – decided walking football was something he very much wanted to try. However, despite his best efforts, Alan was unable to find anyone offering organised walking football in Southeast Queensland. Not to be deterred, Alan decided to take matters into his own hands and began thinking of ways to establish his own walking football group. To begin with, Alan needed to find a suitable venue in which to play walking football, a search that eventually led to an agreement for a regular once-a-week social walking football session at iPlaySports Centre (now known as Northside Indoor Sport & Fitness) in North Lakes. Next, Alan established a trading name: ‘Walking Football Brisbane’. Then, he set up a website and a Facebook page with which to reach out to other like-minded football enthusiasts. And, finally, after many months of planning, Alan’s efforts were realised when Walking Football Brisbane held its first ever session of social walking football from 3-5pm at iPlaySports in North Lakes on Sunday 07 January 2018.

Despite a modest turnout of only twelve players for this foundational walking football event, Alan’s spirits remained high as he continued spreading the word about this wonderful new version of the beautiful game. Such was Alan’s conviction in the potential of what he was doing that in a relatively short period of time he established a second walking football venue, in Coorparoo, followed soon thereafter by a third venue, in Newmarket. Since then, Walking Football Brisbane Inc has continued to grow in membership and now provides regular weekly walking football sessions at many venues throughout the greater Brisbane region, of which the establishment of walking football on a lawn bowls green at Club Oxley deserves a special mention: the idea of long-time member, Marilyn Roberts; embraced by Alan Templeton; and brought to reality by another long-time member, Paolo (Paul) Cavallari, and his wonderful support team. Further afield, Alan has also helped to facilitate the establishment of walking football on the Sunshine Coast and on the Redcliffe Peninsula.

However, organising regular weekly walking football sessions was not enough for Alan, he also wanted to host walking football tournaments. So, once more, Alan began looking for a suitable venue, a search which this time ended up at the QUT Kelvin Grove Stadium, a contemporary sporting complex with a state-of-the-art synthetic turf playing surface. Finally, after many months of planning and promotion, Walking Football Brisbane held its first QUT Walking Football Festival on Sunday 07 October 2018, an event contested by 5 teams made up of local members along with a few players from Gympie, Mackay, and Sydney. Since then, the popularity of Walking Football Brisbane Inc hosted tournaments has grown significantly and now attracts teams from throughout Australia.

Understandably, Alan’s walking football achievements did not go unnoticed amongst the wider footballing fraternity. It was no surprise, then, when in August 2019, Football Queensland appointed Alan as their first ever Walking Football Development Manager – a position he has excelled in ever since, most notably by the tremendous work he has done in managing the roll out of grassroots walking football programs across Queensland.

Today, Walking Football Brisbane Inc is a wholly member-owned, not-for-profit, sporting association managed by a committee of dedicated football-loving volunteers. The continued success of what Alan Templeton started all those years ago would not have been possible without the support of our wonderful members, the generous assistance of our sponsorship partners, and the continued encouragement from our affiliates, both here and abroad, all of whom share a passion for walking football.

As for Alan Templeton, the founder, and patriarch of Walking Football Brisbane Inc. Even though he may no longer be at the helm of the association he created, his name, and the wonderful legacy he leaves behind, will for evermore be remembered in Queensland walking football history.

WALKING FOOTBALL BRISBANE INC – MAJOR MILESTONES:

2017

08 DEC 2017 – Walking Football Brisbane (WFB) is registered as a business name.

2018

07 JAN 2018 – WFB establishes a regular Sunday afternoon session of social walking football at iPlaySports Centre (now known as Northside Indoor Sport & Fitness) in North Lakes, becoming the first-ever regular walking football venue in Southeast Queensland.

18 APR 2018 – WFB obtains its first-ever sponsorship deal with All Properties Group, followed soon thereafter by agreements with Esstee Media, Brisbane Roar FC, and Hutchinson Builders.

15 AUG 2018 – WFB establishes a regular Saturday afternoon session of social walking football at Brisbane City Indoor Sports in Coorparoo.

10 OCT 2018 – WFB trials a six-week Wednesday morning social walking football “pilot” program at Brisbane City Indoor Sports in Newmarket.

04 OCT 2018 – Walking Football Brisbane (WFB Inc) becomes an incorporated association.

07 OCT 2018 – WFB Inc holds the first ever QUT Walking Football Festival, contested by 5 teams made up of WFB Inc members, along with some players from Gympie, Mackay, and Sydney.

14 NOV 2018 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Wednesday morning session of social walking football at Brisbane City Indoor Sports in Newmarket.

18 NOV 2018 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Sunday afternoon session of social walking football at Brisbane City Indoor Sports in Newmarket.

2019

28 APR 2019 – WFB Inc holds its second QUT Walking Football Festival, contested by 14 teams, including local, intrastate, and interstate players.

14 MAY 2019 – WFB Inc holds its first meeting to discuss how to develop its own referees – a gathering from which long-time member Stephen Thompson would go on to establish the WFB Inc Referees group.

05 AUG 2019 – Alan Templeton becomes Football Queensland’s first Walking Football Development Officer, responsible for the roll out of grassroots walking football programs throughout Queensland.

04 DEC 2019 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Wednesday night session of social and competitive walking football (played on a lawn bowls green) at Club Oxley in Oxley.

2020

25 JAN 2020 – Alan Templeton steps aside from all WFB Inc activities to concentrate his efforts towards further developing the game of walking football through his role at Football Queensland.

03 FEB 2020 – WFB Inc transitions to a wholly member-owned, not-for-profit, sporting association and elects its first ever Management Committee.

14 FEB 2020 – WFB Inc attends the official opening ceremony of Brisbane City Council’s new Perry Park synthetic sports field in Bowen Hills, at which it holds walking football demonstration games.

06 JUN 2020 – WFB Inc holds a five-week trial of social walking football at the new Perry Park synthetic sports field in Bowen Hills.

13 AUG 2020 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Thursday night session of social walking football at the Perry Park synthetic sports field in Bowen Hills.

29 NOV 2020 – WFB Inc plays its last session of social walking football at Brisbane City Indoor Sports in Newmarket, prior to the facility’s demolition to make way for an apartment building.

06 DEC 2020 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Sunday afternoon session of social walking football at the YMCA in Bowen Hills.

13 DEC 2020 – WFB Inc members agree to make the joy of walking football available to everyone by removing the age restriction from its Constitution – a new beginning.

2021

07 JAN 2021 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Sunday afternoon session of social walking football at Brisbane Albion Indoor Sports in Albion.

28 MAY 2021 - WFB Inc enters the world of merchandising with the release of its own stubby cooler.

01 SEP 2021 - WFB Inc announces the selection of its first-ever representative teams, the WFB50s and the WFB60s.

18 SEP 2021 - WFB Inc supports the inaugural ‘Jamboree Cup’, a postcode playoff walking football tournament organised by Cr. Sarah Hutton as a fundraising event for Pushing Barriers.

10 DEC 2021 - WFB Inc supports Football Queensland and Helena Winter to establish a regular Friday night session of grassroots walking football at the Sandgate Bowls Club in Sandgate.

2022

28 FEB 2022 - Club Oxley, the WFB Inc home ground, falls victim to the 2022 Brisbane floods.

07 MAR 2022 - WFB Inc becomes registered as a Football Queensland affiliated club, sanctioned by Football Australia.

30 APR - WFB Inc, in association with Club Oxley and Football Queensland, establishes an official 12-hour world record for the longest continuous game of Walking Football, and raises over $2,000 for the Club Oxley Flood Relief Fund in the process.

14 JUL 2022 - WFB Inc is honoured to have Alan Templeton and Colin Quigley named in the Australian 50s team, and Anthony Pollock, Siggy Nowak, Dr. Wayne Gibbon, and Fred Iezzi named in the 60s team to contest the International Walking Football Federation’s Walking Football World Championships in Florence, Italy.

17 AUG 2022 - WFB Inc reboots its long-dormant Instagram account thanks to long -time member Seivland (Siev) Poh.

20 AUG 2022 - WFB Inc rep team, the WFB60s, travels interstate first time to participate in the inaugural Central Coast FC Over 50s Walking Football Tournament in Tuggerah, NSW.

03 SEP 2022 - WFB Inc provides two teams to play a showcase game of walking football during the half-time break of the Matildas -v- Canada international friendly at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

21 OCT 2022 - WFB Inc holds its first-ever Friday session of social walking football at Brisbane City Indoor Sports at Coorparoo, albeit, only until the end of the year, after which the session will revert to Saturdays.

09 NOV 2022 - WFB Inc announces a partnership with Fair Play Publishing and with Soccer World for the sponsorship of its three representative teams: the WFB50s, the WFB60s, and the WFB Soccettes.

09 NOV 2022 - WFB Inc unveils its first-ever rep team uniforms at the inaugural Pan Pacific Masters Games Walking Football Tournament on the Gold Coast.

12 NOV 2022 - WFB Inc Rep team, the WFB50s, wins the Over 50s division of the inaugural Pan Pacific Masters Games Walking Football Tournament.

12 DEC 2022 - WFB Inc honours Alan Templeton for his achievements in walking football by presenting him with its first-ever Life Membership.

2023

06 APR 2023 – WFB Inc relaunches its newsletter, last published in 2019 and now called ‘WALKING FOOTBALL MATTERS’ – a clever title coined by Peter Thorpe.  The idea to resurrect the newsletter was the initiative of Siggy Nowak, ably assisted in its production by Stephen Thompson and Jeff Clarkson.

06 APR 2023 - WFB Inc is honoured to have two of its members, Wally Vicig and Siggy Nowak, named in Australia’s first-ever national ‘Walkeroos 70s’ rep team.

08 APR 2023 – WFB Inc holds its first-ever Easter long weekend session of social walking football at George Clayton Park on the Wynnum foreshore, thanks to the efforts of Karen Forde and Jeff Clarkson.

11 APR 2023 – WFB Inc members play walking football demonstration games on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Unity Pitch in Brisbane’s King George Square – an event covered by live national TV on the Channel 9 ‘TODAY’ show.

22 APR 2023 – WFB Inc enters a record number of teams (WFB 50s, WFB 60s, WFB 65s, WFB Soccettes, and WFB Social) in the 2023 FQ QUT Cup held at QUT Kelvin Grove Stadium – arguably, the largest annual competitive and social walking football tournament in the southern hemisphere.

09 JUN 2023 – WFB Inc establishes a regular Friday night session of social walking football at The Gap FC, thanks to the efforts of Steve Fabri (venue manager) and some WFB Inc Management Committee members.  The perpetual trophy at this venue was named the ‘Ken’ after WFB Inc refereeing legend Kenneth ‘Fossil’ Haikings.

04-07 JUL 2023 – WFB Inc men’s rep teams, the WFB 50s and WFB 60s, win their respective age divisions in the first-ever four-day FQ Walking Football Fest, which incorporated a three-day National Club Team Championship (attended by the Chelsea Fans Walking Football team from England), followed by a one-day Interstate Cup.  WFB Inc was honoured that most of the players chosen to be in the two Queensland rep teams for the Interstate Cup were members of its association.

14 AUG 2023 – WFB Inc is honoured to have Ritchie Callaghan, Anthony ‘Ozy’ Iles, Dr Wayne Gibbon, and Alan Templeton named in the Australian Walkeroos 50s team, and Siggy Nowak named in the Walkeroos 70s team to contest the International Walking Football Federation’s Winter Nations Tournament in Cardiff, Wales.

16 AUG 2023 – WFB Inc is honoured to have David Groth named in the Australian 50s team to contest the Federation of International Walking Football Associations’ World Nations Cup in Manchester, England.

31 AUG 2023 – WFB Inc procures banners to be presented to other clubs at their home events.

02 SEP 2023 – WFB Inc teams are well represented at the Sunshine Coast Walking Football Festival held at the Coolum Sporting Complex, which is also the occasion on which the first WFB Inc banner is presented to Coolum Beach Walking Football in appreciation of their longstanding support of our sport.

12-14 OCT 2023 – WFB Inc men’s rep teams, the WFB 50s and the WFB 60s, win their respective age divisions in the inaugural Australian Masters Games walking football tournament in Gepps Cross, Adelaide.   WFB Inc members were also prominent in other teams at this event, including the East Coast United team which contested, and won, Australia’s first ever Men’s 65s division.

11 NOV 2023 – WFB Inc honours Leonnie Robertson for all the wonderful work she does for its association by naming her ‘Club Person of the Year’.

09 DEC 2023 – WFB Inc members play walking football demonstrations game during the official opening of Football Queensland’s new facility at the Nudgee Recreation Reserve.