Sticky Wicket sounds like the punchline to a rude Jethro joke, doesn’t it?
Well, it might be but in this case Sticky Wicket is a sports team from Thanet, not cricket as the name suggests but Walking Football.
The club, which is named after the sports hall in which it plays at the Royal Harbour School, has been in existence for five years and for the last couple Nigel Robson has been very much involved. Nigel has always enjoyed football despite being a QPR fan and recalls being called up to his first team at Primary school level; even at that age he was competitive, it’s the team spirit and banter that has kept his love of the team sport alive.
CommunityAd had the pleasure of a chat with the AcademyFM presenter about life at Sticky Wicket.
What did you think of the concept of Walking Football when you first heard of it?
I wasn’t sure if it was for me. It sounds a bit tame if I’m honest! But it is far from it. And having wrongly feared it would be a bit too easy perhaps, I was amazed after my first session that I was very stiff the following morning!
Has that opinion changed since joining the club?
Joining a walking football team was a complete revelation to me! It is great fun and physically as challenging as you want it to be. I am a good deal fitter as a result of playing. But I look forward to the games not only for the exercise but the general fun and banter. At Sticky Wicket we usually have between 10 and 14 people so play 5 aside or more if necessary. They are a great gang who play competitively but fairly. We play for an hour then retire upstairs to the bar. Though we are all 50+ it feels like being a youngster again!
Why would you recommend readers of a certain age join the club… it’s not just the physical benefits, there’s a social element to the club as well, isn’t there?
The club is open to anyone over 50. Our oldest participant is a very youthful looking 76. And he regularly gets whistled up for running! But yes, the exercise is good for us – but so is the social side. We meet in the bar most weeks. And we do have other events occasionally – there is a good link between Sticky Wicket and Bay City Strollers so we had an indoor Olympics event in the run up to Christmas. This involved food and games such as darts, pool, bar football – but perhaps most importantly a good old chat and laugh! Oh, and there is a bar…
If you could have any retired professional footballer join the team, who would you choose and why?
I would personally have Stan Bowles join us! You may guess from that I’m a QPR fan. He was a fabulous striker and I’m sure he would have a story or two to tell!
If anyone would like to join us, we are open to anyone aged 50+. It costs just £5 a week and we meet on a Thursday evening at 7 -8pm. If you would like to try it we do not charge for the first week – if you are interested then please phone Nigel Robson on 07809 112623.