Walking footballers from Wrexham received a festive present when they were awarded a grant to buy their own kits.

But the regulars at Queensway Stadium are being equipped for much more than just looking like a team.

For many it was their first tentative steps back to good physical and mental health after years of letting themselves go.

Phil Jones, from Caia Park, was in physical pain after two knee operations, but is fit enough to indulge his passion for the beautiful game over Wednesday’s hour-long sessions.

Phil recounts the days in his twenties and thirties when he enjoyed his football competitively, turning out for the pub teams such as The Hand Inn and The Swan in Penybryn.

But Phil, 59, admits: “I got fat and old in my thirties, I got in with the wrong crowd and started having pints and the rest is history.

“Then I was referred by the exercise referral scheme to come here. I’ve been doing it for eight months and it is really good. I’ve stayed at 16 stone, but I am definitely fitter and I feel better for it.

“I also go to aqua aerobics. You don’t have time sometimes for exercise when you get older, but this is very worth doing.”

Many of Queensway’s walking footballers have been pointed in the direction of the fast-growing sport by the National Exercise on Referral Scheme, run from the sports centre.

But unusually for walking football projects – which are mostly aimed at men aged 50 plus – the Queensway scheme includes a raft of relative youngsters, some with special needs or disabilities. There are even some ladies who have joined in to show off their skills on the astroturf.

Organiser Robin Ranson, a health improvement practitioner with the Caia Park Health Team, says the project has grown since its launch in 2014 when it was the first in the Wrexham area.

“At other places they have done it as an over-50s scheme. For years we struggled to engage with men, so we didn’t want to put an age cap on it as some of our younger members have a physical or mental impairment and they wouldn’t want to play at the full pace,” explained Robin.

“It is so inclusive here and we have two ladies who come regularly. It has not been a case of men over 50, although the main reason it was set up was to work with older blokes who are a hard to reach group in this area.

“We have a lad who is 20 and other youngsters, so there is quite a nice social feel to the group.”

While the accent may be on health and wellbeing, Queensway’s walking footballers haven’t lost the competitive edge and have featured in several local tournaments.

They now face regular opponents in the shape of a side from Coedpoeth United and plan to renew the keen local rivalry, resplendent in their fashionable new kits.

Michael Duckett, of Borras Park, helped the group win a grant of £350 from Sport Wales for the sportswear.

“We were a bit of a rag, tag outfit with bibs. But now were are going to play tournaments we’ll all be in the same colour,” says Michael, who at 71 admits he “just can’t turn down a game of football”.

He says: “I’ve played football all my life. I used to play for BICC in the Welsh National League on Saturday and in the Sunday leagues. This is not just football, we meet people from different walks of life. It’s brilliant.

“We’ve got people with special needs and people who are semi-disabled – we don’t turn anyone down. We have a lot of youngsters come too. We tone the pace of the game down for whoever turns up.”

That issue of pace can, of course, be a thorny issue for many who attend – some with a range of health problems.

This year the Football Association launched a comprehensive set of rules for walking football, including an overhead height restriction of six foot and the award of free kicks for any player seen to be not walking – which is defined as not having at least one foot in contact with the pitch.

But heart attack survivor Tony Matthews, 57, from Bangor-on-Dee, admits the no-running rule often gets overlooked in the heat of the game.

“There is bad reffing and at some centres they don’t play to the rules, so they could do with cracking down on them,” he says.

“We try and walk, although I admit sometimes your head goes faster than your legs. You think you’ve got to get to that ball and you end up running, but at some places they get away with more.

“I had a heart attack five years ago and it was 30 years since I’d kicked a football.

“But since I’ve come here I can actually run up the stairs and I’ve lost half a stone – I feel absolutely fantastic.”

Robin hopes the growth of the sport will be mirrored in Wrexham and he adds: “Ideally, we’ll get enough sides in the area to get a league going. It took us a while to get up and running and we were the first because one of our members had seen an advert about walking football on TV, which triggered loads of interest.

“It is getting bigger across the UK and it has been really popular in Wrexham.”