Stuart Langworthy admits he is still pinching himself at the “amazing opportunities” becoming England walking football team manager has afforded him.

The 57-year-old long-serving Abbeymead Rovers chairman, coach and player was stunned, by his own admission, to be asked to take charge of the national over-60s side in a voluntary capacity in October 2017.

“I’ve been really fortunate,” he enthused. “We beat Italy 3-0 in an historic first-ever over-60s walking international which was played at Brighton’s Amex Stadium in May. We had the flags out as we were led out of the tunnel and national anthems; it was all done properly.

“We also gave Tommy Charlton, who plays walking football in Rotherham and is brother of the legendary England greats Bobby and Jack, his debut at the age of 72. He came on for the final 15 minutes and almost scored in the No.9 shirt Bobby famously wore in the 1966 World Cup final.

“Tom is a Walking Football Association ambassador and it created something of a media storm having him involved, which fulfilled our goal of gaining some worldwide publicity. For the record England Over-50s also beat Italy, 2-0, in a separate match.

“My son Ross is a Yate Town striker and he and I went to Hong Kong to help launch AXA Insurance’s Walking Football League there. We ran training sessions for coaches and players and we even had the privilege of sharing a taxi with Dwight Yorke, the former Aston Villa and Manchester United striker!

“We played a demonstration game involving Dwight and some Hong Kong celebrities and it was a fantastic experience.

“I’ve also been mentoring prisoners serving life sentences in Kenya. A missionary from the Stroud area had suggested the idea of walking football to prison officers there as a means of keeping the prisoners active and healthy, and she’d got in touch with me to ask for my assistance.

“In the meantime we enjoyed other international appointments last year, one of them with Wales at Barry Town’s Jenner Park Stadium involving our first team and shadow squad at over 50s and 60s levels. Our over-60s won all four of their games.

“We handed a debut to Alan Kennedy, the successful former Liverpool left-back, as an over-60 at the age of 64, some 34 years after winning his last full-international England cap in a 1-0 defeat by Wales.”

Far from content with that little lot, Lnagworthy and England are now gearing up for an intriguing Saturday 9th February excursion.

“We are going to Gibraltar to take on their over-60s,” he revealed. “Then in March we’re playing a return fixture with Wales at the FA’s national football centre at St George’s Park (Staffordshire) involving our over-50s and 60s first and shadow sides, before setting off to Milan in April for return matches against Italy.

“Also in April Ross and I have been invited to Guernsey to run training sessions and then on 1st and 2nd June England are hosting the European Championships involving eight nations which include Spain, France, Germany and Holland.

“The tournament takes place at Chesterfield FC as the club’s director John Croot invented walking football, so it’s a kind of tribute to him too.

“In October, an opportunity has arisen for us to take some England Over-50 and 60 teams to Brisbane to help raise the profile of the walking game in Australia.

“So it’s all like a dream – I feel like a real-life Mike Bassett: England Manager, if you know the film!”