Player Story: Karen Phillips

We spoke to Karen Phillips about how she discovered walking football, her involvement in the creation of Cardiff HOS WFC and the Welsh women's league, plus her new projects supporting women in the game she loves.

Karen Phillips in training

It was before Covid, when Karen Phillips joined a walking netball team in her local area. Having had trouble with ‘wobbly knees’, it was a great opportunity to take part in sport again. Soon, another member suggested she tried out for a walking football team. However, this wasn’t any old team - but the Wales Walking Football team.

‘I’d never played football before but had always been around it. And here I am having a training session with the Welsh National team,’ says Karen.

Having fallen in love with the game after that first session, Karen decided to look for a club where she could play regularly: ‘Because of no other teams in Wales that I knew about, I had to look further afield to play and this is where I found Melksham. With the knowledge I gained from them and the ladies I met at Wales, Cardiff was born.’

Cardiff went on to achieve immediate success.

‘In our first year we won the 2^nd division of the Thames Valley League. That gave us motivation to do other things,’ says Karen. One of those things was to take their walking football boots to Cyprus where they ‘had an absolute blast’ and won the Chase Buchanan International Tournament.

Through funding from Sports Council Wales, Cardiff acquired first aid training plus equipment, balls and bibs for the club. The players also designed and produced their own badge with the funding. They remain proud to be a women’s team run by a female committee.

When more women formed clubs in their local area, Karen helped set up a group to start a league for the new teams to play against one another. She says:

‘We wanted a league run by women, for women, reffed by women.’

By 2024 there were 12 teams in the Welsh league. Now it has grown to 18 teams in three divisions with relegation and promotion prospects.

After helping to establish the Welsh league and watching it go from strength to strength, Karen is now stepping back from this role. ‘I’m good at starting things,’ she says. ‘Then I step back and move onto the next venture.’

One of her next ventures is to encourage more female referees into the game. At the moment, there are five women refereeing in the Welsh league with 11 more women currently training.

Karen also wants to support the formation of an over 55s league.

Sometimes the age difference in women’s walking football teams can range from 35 to 70 plus. Establishing a league for over 55s may encourage older women to stay in the game longer.

Having been such a big advocate for women in walking football, Karen says, ‘Until I reflect I don’t realise how much I’ve done.’ She acknowledges the support she’s received. ‘People have helped along the way and I consider Melksham our twin team. We still have close relations and they have always supported us.’

Although the sport has brought many benefits, Karen is keen to stress, ‘It’s not all about football. Amazing what walking football has given me personally: a whole network of new friends and I go caravanning with people I’ve met through walking football.’

This camaraderie and support is something Karen feels especially proud of.

Playing and coaching is about much more than the game. ‘We see women sometimes through the hardest part of their lives.’

In the end, this shows the true impact of the game and the dedication of inspiring women like Karen who have supported and helped create so many opportunities for other women in walking football.

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