A RETIRED police officer from Bolton has been called up to the England over 50s walking football squad.

Originally from Astley Bridge, 59-year-old Andy Clarke is no stranger to the national team, having made is international debut for the over 50s side in August last year.

He scored a brace in a 4-1 win over Guernsey over 30s.

Andy will be joining fellow Bolton walking football star David Mort when their respective national sides head to Bilbao next month to take part in a tournament in the Basque region.

He will face France on May 21.

Despite having reservations about the sport at first, Andy is now a huge advocate for walking football.

He said: “The sport of walking football I understand is not for everyone and is obviously slow and not a great watch compared to the real thing.

“For the people who embrace walking football it is a fantastic game which improves people’s fitness, wellbeing and mental health, whilst meeting new people and being part of a team and enabling people to carry on playing a form of our national sport well into their later years.

“The sport is thriving in our country and will only get more and more popular as time moves on, with the WFA doing a great job promoting the sport here and around the world.”