Walking Football in Germany - Growth, Rules, and How It Differs From the UK
Walking Football in Germany - Growth, Rules, and How It Differs From the UK
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know I’ve got a fascination with how Walking Football is growing not just in England but across Europe. And nowhere is it more interesting right now than Germany.
In England, we’ve been playing for a decade now, with two parallel sets of rules. The FA’s official Laws of the Game for Walking Football and The Walking Football Association’s own version. But in Germany? They’ve taken a slightly different path, and it’s producing a format that feels both familiar and distinctly their own.
To dig deeper, I’ve been reading everything I can find, and I also reached out to Jean Künzel, who runs Walking Football in Fleestedt near Hamburg and plays for HSV’s Walking Football team. He’s one of the most passionate advocates for the sport in Germany, and I’ll bring in some of his words throughout this piece.
How Walking Football Took Off in Germany
The German story really kicks off around 2017–2019, when a handful of Bundesliga clubs, Schalke 04, VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, Bayer 04 Leverkusen - launched pilot programmes. Schalke had a team going by 2017, and by 2019 Leverkusen were hosting the first leg of the new European Walking Football League, with Dutch clubs hosting the return fixtures. That league later grew to include Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, and 1. FC Nürnberg.
From 2020 onwards, more regional FAs like Mittelrhein and Westfalen began running action days, starter courses and tournaments. By 2023/24, the DFB embedded Richtlinien Walking Football into its competition handbook. And in 2024, the DOSB (German Olympic Sports Confederation) formally recognised it as a “Sport Pro Gesundheit” - a preventive health sport, alongside things like cardiac rehab classes.
Scale-wise, we’re now looking at around 600 German clubs offering Walking Football sessions. That’s remarkable growth in less than a decade.
Why It Grew So Fast
A lot of the German success comes down to framing. The DFB doesn’t just call this “football for older adults”, they present it as “healthy football for everyone”. The emphasis is on social connection, gentle fitness, and accessibility.
Jean Künzel, who trains Walking Football at TuS Fleestedt and also plays for HSV, is clear about this wider appeal:
„Walking Football liegt mir unglaublich am Herzen – es verbindet Menschen, schafft Gemeinschaft und macht Fußball für alle zugänglich.“
“Walking Football means an incredible amount to me, it connects people, builds community and makes football accessible for everyone.”【Instagram†source】
And he’s right. When I look at how sessions are set up in Germany, they feel deliberately inclusive: mixed gender, wide age ranges, tailored pace, and with formats that make the game about teamwork rather than individual skill.
The German Ruleset - What You Actually Play
So, how does it work? Here are the main features of the German model, based on the DFB’s 2024 flyer and the rules circulated by the SBFV (Süddeutscher Fußballverband):
Team size: 6 v 6 in competition (training flexible)
Pitch size: ≈42 m × 21 m
Goals: ≈3 m × 1 m (mini/low goals)
Goal area (“Tabukreis”): A 3 m circle in front of goal; nobody may enter (attackers or defenders). No goalkeepers!
Ball height: Must stay below hip height (1 m)
Restarts: All free-kicks indirect; opponents retreat 3 m. Kick-ins from touch
Walking & contact: One foot always on the ground; no slide tackles or heavy contact
Offside: None
Penalties: If someone illegally enters the no-go circle to prevent a goal, the penalty is taken from the halfway line into an empty net
These rules are embedded in the DFB’s official regs (2023/24 onwards), but they’re guidance not dogma. Local organisers can adapt them depending on facilities.
Why No Goalkeepers?
One of the most striking differences is the absence of goalkeepers.
At first glance it feels odd, after all, football without a goalie? But when you look closer, it makes sense:
Safety: Diving and blocking shots puts huge stress on wrists, fingers and shoulders, especially for older players. No goalkeepers means fewer collisions and injuries.
Game Flow: Without keepers, everyone is an outfielder, which keeps the game more dynamic and shared.
Fairness: Goalkeeping is a specialised skill. By removing the role, newcomers aren’t disadvantaged by a weak keeper, and stronger players can’t dominate just by being agile in goal.
Balance: To compensate, goals are smaller (3 m × 1 m) and high shots are disallowed. You can’t just blast the ball, it has to be precise.
Personally, I think it’s a smart idea. Over the years I’ve seen too many goalkeepers in Walking Football walk away with broken wrists and fingers. Playing without goalkeepers puts the focus back on safe passing and finishing, and after looking into the German model for this article, it’s something I’m considering trialing at Lewes in future sessions, it could be fun.
Age & Inclusivity - Who Gets to Play?
Here’s another interesting twist. In some German regions, Walking Football is still seen as a sport only for over-50s. But in Hamburg, where Jean Künzel is based, they’ve opened the doors much wider.
„Dann spielen Enkel, Vater und Mutter und Opa in einer Mannschaft zusammen. Wo geht das sonst noch?“
“Then grandchildren, mum and dad, and grandpa all play together in one team. Where else can you do that?”【Kreiszeitung†source】
Jean sees huge value in allowing players from 16 upwards. At his TuS Fleestedt sessions, the youngest is 16, the oldest is in their late 70s. He believes this age mix strengthens the community side of the game, making it a true family sport.
And at Lewes, we feel the same way. While formal tournaments might have age restrictions, our weekly sessions are open to younger players too. We play 3-touch football, which evens the playing field and makes sure the game doesn’t get dominated by the quickest or most technically sharp players. What you get instead is something magical: different generations sharing one pitch, one laugh, one game together.
For us, inclusivity isn’t optional — it’s the point.
How Germany’s Format Differs From the UK
When you step onto a German Walking Football pitch under the DFB rules, you’ll notice some key differences straight away. There are no goalkeepers, only a three-metre no-entry circle in front of goal, and the ball must stay low — below hip height, about a metre. Penalties are unusual too: they’re taken from the halfway line into an empty net, a very different feel from the English game. In Britain, the FA’s version uses goalkeepers with a six-metre penalty area, allows the ball up to crossbar height (around two metres), and awards penalties from six metres with a keeper on the line. The WFA’s laws are broadly similar to the FA’s but with their own twists: head-height limits of about 1.83 metres, blue-card sin-bins for repeated infringements, and extra detail around goalkeeper distribution and denying goal-scoring opportunities (DOGSO). Even the goals themselves reflect the philosophy, Germany uses smaller ones, roughly three by one metres, while in the UK they’re wider taller. Discipline also feels different: the German guidance doesn’t emphasise cards, while the FA allows temporary dismissals and the WFA makes the blue-card system central to match management.
What does this mean on the pitch?
In Germany, finishing is about angles and precision, not power.
Defending is radically different: instead of relying on keepers to get you out of trouble, you’re policing the no-entry circle.
And without goalkeepers, the rhythm of attack and defence flows differently, it feels more like possession football than end-to-end counterattacks, which British games can become.
The State of the Game in Germany Today
As of 2025, there are about 600 clubs in Germany now offer Walking Football. Bundesliga giants like Dortmund and HSV are running community teams; regional FAs keep hosting workshops and tournaments.
Jean’s own patch has become a hub. At TuS Fleestedt, his Monday night sessions draw players aged 16–70+, and he’s worked on launching Hamburg’s first Walking Football league.
For Jean, it’s about more than rules or numbers. He told FuPa in an interview:
„Wichtig sind die Menschen und die dritte Halbzeit. Walking Football ist eben mehr als nur der Sport.“
“The important part is the people and the third half. Walking Football is more than just the sport.”
That third half, the chat after the match is what cements Walking Football not as a watered-down version of football, but as the football of tomorrow.
„Es ist nicht der Fußball von gestern, sondern der Fußball von morgen.“
“It’s not the football of yesterday, but the football of tomorrow.”
Takeaways
Germany’s Walking Football is booming because it combines health, inclusivity and fun. Their no-goalkeeper, low-ball model is safe, simple, and effective, and it’s getting people back into the game who thought they’d left it behind forever.
And here in Lewes, we can learn from that. Whether it’s opening sessions to younger players, experimenting with no-goalkeeper games, or focusing on the “third half” (which is usually in the Kings Head for u
sas much as the match itself, the German example reminds us that Walking Football is about belonging first, competition second.
Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Hamburg, Hove, or on the Dripping Pan pitch. Walking Football is proof that the game we love still has the power to bring people together — at any age, any pace.
👉 Sources and further reading:
FuPa.net interview: Drei Fragen an Jean Künzel
Kreiszeitung: Walking Football in Fleestedt
DFB: Richtlinien Walking Football
WFA Laws of the Game
Hi, we are the only club in Cornwall thats open age.
Would you ever host an open age tournament in Lewes, do you have your own facility?
We are off to Hamburg for an open age tournament in June 2026