About the TVWFL
We are a community of clubs; a community of players and we sit very comfortably in the wider community of national and international Walking Football.
Who thought that players could look forward to getting old? To have your fortieth (women) or fiftieth birthday (men) and finally be allowed to play competitive walking football.
To become 65 no longer means getting a bus pass but means you can now compete in our over 65s division.
Staying fit and healthy has always been sensible but having a reason to do it makes it a whole lot more enjoyable. Players who thought their football life had passed by are reliving their childhood passion and in some cases discovering football for the very first time.
Welcome to the Thames Valley Walking Football League.
History of the league
2016-12-05
The Thames Valley League was born
The Thames Valley League was born on Monday 5th December 2016, at a meeting chaired by Jon Wood of the FA in response to local walking football clubs seeking competitive matches.
2017
We began playing
We began playing in 2017 with just two over 50 divisions.
Howard Zagnoiev was our first chairman and Andy Loriman was our first secretary, alongside current treasurer Danny O'Sullivan. Dave Calvert and Tony Smith, two of our referees, were there from the start and built up that important resource for the league.
Our unusual policy of using a size 4 ball was suggested in an early meeting by Jon Wood to promote skilful play and has been adopted ever since.
Jon also introduced us to Bisham Abbey where we have played ever since. Startup funding support established us during that period and has formed the foundations for what has followed.
Since those days the League had two major events to cope with. The first was COVID which meant the League had to stop for a while and resulted in Howard getting stranded in Israel for a long period. Special procedures had to be created when we returned to the field with social distancing etc.
The second was when certain parties thought we should create an elite league. Although our League has always had teams in it that were in the Top Ten nationally for their age group, we have always been about providing competitive football for many different age and ability levels.
2021
More categories added
As soon as it became viable, we added two additional over 50s divisions, created our growing, ladies, over 60s and over 65s divisions. Handling this growth has been challenging and rewarding and all clubs can take great pride in what we have achieved.
Malcolm Wilson our current secretary was recently given an “over and above award” for his work in keeping up with that growth.
2024
How it looks today
Nowadays we collect match day fees by direct credit which is a bit different to 2017 when pound coins were collected in plastic cartons from the local Chinese takeaway and poured into the magic money machine at Metro on Sunday afternoons.
Our League has another unusual feature in that some of its divisions are multi-touch and some are three-touch. This reflects a healthy debate that has been going on for over a century. The Scots always favoured more of a quick passing game and the English more of a mixture of passing and dribbling. It can be a discussion about sharing out the possession, health and safety and avoiding running but fundamentally it is about a stylistic preference for how the game is played.
Our League has very much reflected the growth in Walking Football Community which is believed to be 60,000 strong in the UK in 2024. We have 800+ players playing in our League every month for over 75 teams from over 30 clubs and work in harmony with national competitions such as the WFLA Nationals and the FA Nationals.
As we were one of the first walking football Leagues in the UK, we have seen former and current members go on to create successful Leagues in Middlesex and Oxford. The same is true in the Women's game where a new League in Hertfordshire has recently formed.
Inevitably being the age group we also we have times of sadness. We recently named two of our Cup trophies in honour of two TWFL legends, who recently passed, Steve Dyett of Watford and former chairman Howard Zagnoiev.
Recently we have introduced the over 70s division.
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