When Les Darvill was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at 58, he withdrew from the life he knew, giving up his season ticket at Tottenham and shutting himself away from friends. Years later, his daughter Gemma Darvill now leads the first England women's Parkinson's walking football team, a role born directly from watching the sport pull her father back from despair.
Darvill, a primary school teacher at Swallowfield School in Milton Keynes, says football did more than lift her father's spirits — it changed the course of his illness. "When he was first diagnosed, it hits you hard. But football genuinely saved his life," she said. "He didn't want to leave the house... he really struggled with life in general, even getting out of bed. And then we found this football session." That team, Fighting Fit Football, based at Watford's training ground, became a turning point. "He's never looked back since," Darvill added.
Her own path into coaching began almost by accident. While cheering her father on at a tournament at St George's Park, she was approached by Annie Booth, founder of the Parkinson's Pioneers, about helping establish a team for women with the condition. Given her background running football camps at school and years of playing the game herself, Darvill said stepping into the role felt like a natural fit.
The Parkinson's Pioneers, who train in Solihull to remain accessible to members travelling from across the country — including Manchester and Devon — started with just three participants in 2023. The group has since grown roughly tenfold to more than 40 women. Booth described the transformation: "We're family now, really, if I'm honest. Everyone just helps each other out," noting that sessions often extend into shared meals and conversation about symptoms and coping strategies.
Walking football differs from the traditional game in several key ways designed for safety: there is no running, no heading, no throw-ins, no offside rule, and tackles must be made face-on rather than from the side or behind. Darvill explained that despite these adjustments, the tactical essence of football remains intact, while the format offers therapeutic value beyond fitness. She pointed to one player who struggles to walk in a straight line but can navigate a training ladder placed in front of her with ease — evidence, she said, of how the sport engages the brain in unexpected ways. A specialist Parkinson's physiotherapist supports the group's warm-ups and cool-downs.
The success of the Pioneers led directly to Darvill's appointment as head coach when the Walking Football Association held trials last year for England's first women's Parkinson's team. That development comes amid broader structural changes in the sport: in August, the Football Association and the Walking Football Association announced a partnership making the FA the governing body for walking football in England, with the WFA continuing as delivery partner — a shift Darvill welcomed as a step toward more unified standards.
Darvill's squad, which fields six-a-side and includes players aged between 36 and 66, has trained in Watford, Droitwich and Bedford ahead of a landmark trip to Toronto, where they will join the England men's Parkinson's team for a week of exhibition matches and awareness events. The squads have crowdfunded to support the trip, with Darvill's personal appeal raising over £400 and a combined fundraiser for both teams exceeding £17,000.
In Canada, England's women will face two American sides — an over-40s team and an over-60s women's team of non-disabled players — as well as men's opposition, alongside a dedicated fundraising and awareness day featuring coaching drills open to the public. "We're doing it because we want to raise awareness of Parkinson's in Canada and help those out there with Parkinson's," Darvill said, describing the trip as a chance to showcase the sport's impact to a wider audience.
For Darvill, the mission remains rooted in personal experience — a daughter's gratitude for a game that gave her father his life back, now channelled into helping others facing the same diagnosis find community and purpose.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.