Northern Ireland Over-60s want to walk away with Nations Cup title

Northern Ireland's Over-60 football team

Northern Ireland’s Over-60s team have their sights set on winning this week’s World Nations Cup, but they know it won’t be a walk in the park.

St George’s Park, the FA’s national training centre in Staffordshire, is set to host the inaugural Federation of International Walking Football Associations global competition from Thursday until Saturday.

Northern Ireland have been drawn in Group B along with Italy, Australia, Wales, Caribbean and Czechia. Group games, which are 20 minutes each way, are due to be staged on Thursday and Friday, while the semi-finals and final will be held on Saturday.

Hopes are high within the Northern Ireland camp and captain Keith Campbell is excited at the prospect of competing on the world stage - and bringing this version of the beautiful game to the attention of more and more people at home.

The squad has been preparing for the tournament over the past 12 months through training sessions, friendly matches and competing in various tournaments.

Team manager Gary Barclay said: “We have a talented squad and I firmly believe we have as good a chance of lifting the trophy as anyone else in the tournament, especially after some great performances at the Dublin International Tournament last month.”

First up for Northern Ireland is a match against Australia at 10.40am on Thursday, followed by encounters with Wales (3.40pm) and Italy (6.10pm).

Day two will see the boys in green and white take on Czechia at 11.50am and Caribbean at 3.10pm. The top four from the group will go through to the quarter-finals, which are set to be played on Friday evening.