The latest in the series of ‘Where are they now’  is a Sunday Special featuring Ron Waugh

Ron Waugh. 2018 to ??

‘I first started walking football like many others at Benalmadena (Hockey Complex) on on a very cold evening on 8th January, 2018.

It happened to be my birthday and when Keith Samuels asked my age at the bar at the warm down after the session I said I was 75 that day and was promptly informed that it was customary to provide the biscuits!!

I duly complied the following week !!

The session commenced with a warm up and Keith advised me to just play it easy and get used to the walking pace. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the banter in the bar afterwards and that was me hooked !!

I hadn’t kicked a ball since retiring from the 11 a side kickabout I played in at Las Lagunas each week.

I had to give up at 65 as the younger guys were leaving me for dead!!

So it was brilliant to be kicking a ball again trying to recapture the lost skills of my younger days. ( I couldn’t move for the next few days!!).

We moved up to the Deportivo and more over 50’s joined us to the extent we began either a nine aside game on the full pitch or two games on smaller pitches and goals.

I began going to the sessions at Elviria which I also enjoyed a lot and met more like minded men eager to kick a ball again.

After a year I found that I seemed to have a flair for goalkeeping and that was where I played until making a spectacular full length save (it’s true !!!) in a Cup Semi Final at the Finca, Calahonda. I didn’t realise at the time but I had landed heavily on my knee.Only when I got home did it cause pain and swelled up.

From then on for the next year I had Doctor appointments then a Traumatologist who advised I needed a replacement knee. That took place in January 2021 and while the knee settled in after a

bout 9 months problems with circulation and cellulitis in the leg with regular hospital appointments and my leg being bandaged up for long periods.
Meantime I had joined Martin Teague and Gray Salt in starting the first walking football league in Spain (although Steve Archibald claimed they had that honour. It was in Catalunia, sometimes seen as not being part of Spain!!!).

The League was relatively successful despite the problems Covid caused.

As the League and competitive football grew I decided I had made my contribution and passed the reins over to a Committee.

I’m pleased to say I was involved in helping to raise the awareness of walking football in communities and in raising donations for good causes through tournaments and other events.

In July this year I finally felt I was ready to resume playing at walking pace (some running still does take place !!) until my right foot started giving me problems.

Pain under the sole of my foot and the bones on top of the foot restricted my walking to 5 minutes. Numerous painkillers have failed to ease the pain and I have now been waiting six months to see a Traumatologist for a diagnosis.

My doctor agreed with my first suspicion that after x rays showed nothing amiss arthritis is the likely cause. I can now walk with less pain thanks to Skecher cushion soled footwear, the only footwear I can wear.

That us where I am at the moment and still a member of Calahonda WFC and I hope to make a comeback once I have diagnosis and treatment for my foot.

A hernia is also now causing discomfort and an op for that would appear to be on the cards.

It has always been my ambition to still be playing when I’m 80, only a few months away although the above problems indicate that might be later rather than sooner.

As they say..Old age doesn’t come itself !!!

I miss the twice weekly sessions, the camaraderie and the banter and I have made many good friends thanks to walking football and have enjoyed playing with and against players of all ages and abilities over the years I have been involved.

I hope see you all again in the not too distant future.

Best Wishes,

Ron Waugh.’