John Hammonds, England walking football international, has explained how much of an impact the sport has had on his life for the better. The Englishman got into the sport through ex-semi-professional football player Alan Watts.
“I ran a football team, and it was coming toward the end as some of the lads, and Watts kept badgering me to come and play walking football.”
When Hammonds was introduced to the sport, he played for his local walking football team, but the facility got shut down where he used to play, so Stuart Langworthy asked him to join Abbeysmead Rovers. Hammonds is England’s goalkeeper.
“Playing in goal the ball still gets struck at me as hard as it was if you’re playing normal football. Stuart Langworthy said to come to play for me at Abbeymead Rovers, and I have done it ever since. Stuart asked me to do some trials and after a few trials, I got into the England squad.
“I’ve played for England over 30 times now, and it has been a fantastic experience.”
“The friendship from other countries was fantastic,” stated the England international.
When commenting on playing at St. Georges Park, Hammonds stated: “It was probably one of the highlights of my footballing life.”
Walking football, as he stresses, has had a huge impact on him in both a financial and fitness sense. “I’m 66, I earn £1,500 a month to keep fit and it’s all because of playing football, it’s changed my life.”
When speaking about the manager, he said: “He’s a lovely manager, a very good manager, they are just very nice people and we’ve got something in common we are both 60 odd and still playing football.”
“I’ve played 30-odd times, and I’ve only let in four goals.”
Hammonds also revealed what it was like playing at the World Cup. “Technically the best team there was the Czechia and South Korea. Waving the flags, the national anthems and things, brilliant. It was absolutely perfect.” Hammonds concluded.
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