Using your phone to find a walking football club
Phil Blackwell
Did you know that the majority of visitors to this website are using a mobile phone or tablet to find local walking football events? Fortunately for this 59% of users, we’ve built
Phil Blackwell
Editor-in-Chief & founder
Phil Blackwell is the founder and editor-in-chief of Walking Football World with almost three decades of grassroots football experience and exposure to the boardrooms of some of the world’s largest brands and bookmakers. Phil started Walking Football World in 2017 with the goal of creating the most comprehensive and detailed guide to the game online.
Grassroots experience
From the dugout to the desktop
Around 20 years ago I started a Sunday football team in a local Hertfordshire league. The East Herts Corinthian Sunday Football League, to be precise.
I was player, manager, secretary, coach, emergency team bus, groundsman and county newspaper reporter.
I arranged training sessions, made sure subs were paid on time (or near enough), booked pitches, paid referees, picked the team (picked myself), bought the kits, washed the kits, replaced the kits, tossed the coin, built the website, wrote the match reports and had the headaches. I even flattened molehills on our home pitch.
We played for four seasons. It was tiring, exhausting and expensive, but it was also incredibly satisfying and enjoyable. Nowadays, like most parents, I live through the footballing successes of my 12 year old son and footballing failures of my Premier League club (Tottenham).
Walking football offers everything I love about the grassroots game but introduces an additional sense of purpose to the pleasure.
Since launching Walking Football World eight years ago, the site has helped over 300,000 visitors find their next place to play. I’ve built and maintained strong relationships with many event organisers, and am actively involved in England Football’s TeamWalk initiative.
Walking football is more inspirational, more impactful and more rewarding in almost every sense. It’s the best of sport combined with the best of humanity, and it’s something I am dedicated to helping promote and grow.
Professional background
All in on online
Outside of sport, I’ve dedicated my professional career to helping businesses get found online.
Across 22 years in digital marketing I’ve worked on multi-national website strategies for eBay, Mothercare and Carphone Warehouse, and have more recently spent the last decade within the highly competitive and innovative iGaming industry.
I’ve always understood the importance of online exposure for small businesses and organisations, while being equally aware that knowing how to get that exposure is both confusing and expensive.
Walking Football World provides local sports clubs and organisers with access to free valuable promotion to a highly receptive and focussed audience.
And to keep it free, it has to be funded. To avoid the site being flooded with display ads, the decision was instead made to introduce a commercial model that also rewards WFW members.
Our Member Rewards page lists a range of offers and benefits specifically for users, from walking football coaching courses to lists of the best betting sites.
Using my vast knowledge of the regulated UK gambling sector, I personally verify every partner listed on Walking Football World to ensure we recommend only the safest, fairest and most responsible fully licensed brands.
Perhaps, most importantly of all, having such a sustainable source of commercial income means that 100% of the proceeds from WFW paid listing packages are donated to charity.
Our partnerships help the site to grow, our growth helps attracts more players, our listings help to fund good causes.
External writing
What I've written elsewhere
Throughout my career, I’ve written multiple articles directly related to the regulation of the UK gambling industry, and advocated for greater protections for bettors on and offline. You can read a selection of my articles below.
It’s not them, but it could be you
A two-part review of the double standards surrounding National Lottery promotion in the United Kingdom. Published in iGaming Business magazine, January 2019.
Done fishing
A look at the risks related to the iGaming sector’s obsession with new players at the expense of greater protections for existing customers. Published in iGB Affiliate magazine, June 2022.
What I've written here
Below you will find a list of the posts I’ve published on Walking Football World, not including page and listing content.
England triumph in walking football first
Phil Blackwell
Over 50s Result: England 2-0 Italy Over 60s Result: England 3-0 Italy They might have missed out on a place in Gareth Southgate’s 23 man World Cup squad, but English
GMWFL Update
Phil Blackwell
The year may be winding down but the Greater Manchester Walking Football League has been as active as ever. At the beginning of November, as the country prepared to celebrate Guy Fawkes
November GMWFL fixtures released
Phil Blackwell
What better way to make use of your extra hour in bed this weekend than to browse the November fixtures of the Greater Manchester Walking Football League? As the year
GMWFL Autumn Season – October Report
Phil Blackwell
The second session of the Greater Manchester Walking Football League’s Autumn season took place on Friday (6/10) with over 14 teams competing in the October sunshine. A total of 32 goals were
Sky Sports to air walking football film
Phil Blackwell
A half-hour programme dedicated to showcasing the sport of walking football will be broadcast on Sky Sports channels a total of 11 times in early October. The Walking Football Association (WFA) commissioned
Caught Off Stride: Alan Richards
Phil Blackwell
Whether you already attend a walking football group or are looking to join one soon, it’s easy to forget the hard work that’s gone into arranging its very existence. Alan Richards
Caught Off Stride: Bill Murney
Phil Blackwell
The birth of Greater Manchester Walking Football League A sport is only successful thanks to the efforts of those who give up their time to organise events and inspire people