It’s a typically overcast October day as I stand outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in my most comfortable shoes. I’m about to embark on a walk that will take me from Tottenham to the home of their north London rivals Arsenal, over six kilometres away. Both are competing in the upper echelons of football in the Champions League, but today is about much more than the glitz and glamour of sport at the highest level. The top tiers thrive because of the passion that props them up from every level below. And I’m about to get a glimpse of that in action, as I’m here to accompany Xavier Wiggins on this two-hour walk, which is merely a tiny leg of his incredible journey spanning over 3,100 kilometres, and all on foot.
Minutes after arriving at Spurs, out comes Wiggins with a rucksack and a cheery smile, despite the sheer scale of this undertaking. He is on a mission to walk to all 92 of the professional league clubs in England and Wales in as many days. Today is day 76 of his epic journey and the finish line is in sight. The idea behind the project is to raise vital funds for a variety of community initiatives that use football as a force for positive change.
“Football’s just so hugely popular,” he says when asked about how the sport drives so much change. “To a local community, the badge of their team means so much and the power of it is so huge.”
Wiggins knows more than most about how deeply football can impact people and their communities. As a passionate AFC Wimbledon fan, he co-founded the Dons Local Action Group (DLAG) during the COVID pandemic to serve isolated individuals in the club community with food collections. The impact was felt deeply and DLAG has continued growing since. Wiggins even earned himself a British Empire Medal in the process.
Walk92 is yet another testament to Wiggins’ commitment to using the power of football to support those around him – although this requires maybe a little more stamina than his previous efforts. I’m interested to find out how one prepares for a journey of this scale. “You literally get up in the morning, and you just do it,” he laughs. “You don’t think about it. If it rains, you put a jacket on and you put your hood over. If the road is tough, you put your head down and you walk.” He knows a thing or two about tough roads. He’s had to walk everything from windy yet scenic paths to barren concrete roads along motorways – the only respite coming when he gets to a hotel to sleep at night.
“So many people could do this,” he says optimistically, just as I’m thinking the exact opposite. “They’ll think of course they can’t walk for 92 days straight. Well, guess what? Some bloke who was nearly 20 stone and wasn’t physically fit is doing it!”
Walk92 has also recruited many other walkers who have joined in on certain legs of the journey to raise funds for charities of their choosing. The money raised by Wiggins himself will be split down the middle, with 50 per cent going to his Dons Local Action Group and the other 50 per cent shared between charities Sport Local Action and the Street Soccer Foundation.
At every club he visits, he has been welcomed warmly, given a tour of the facilities and a chance to speak to their community outreach programme and foundation leaders, drawing attention to all the good they are doing. As we approach Arsenal, I ask him what this adventure has taught him.
“Mainly that we can achieve a lot more than we think and that people are inherently kind. I’ve encountered so much kindness. And I think people are keen to see good stories. I could write a book on football’s ills, but I could just as easily write a book on the good that it does. I’d rather focus on the good.”
I only walked around 11 kilometres during my time with him but I left feeling inspired – and slept like a baby. For Wiggins, who basically did the equivalent of our journey nearly 300 times over, the relief when he reached the final steps of his quest in Plymouth, a few days after our walk, must have been unimaginable. With £60,000 raised, I ask him how he’ll celebrate. He says, “I think I definitely want to just sleep with the knowledge of not having to go anywhere the next day. I’ll take a couple of days to chill out, and then get planning for what’s next.” Clearly, Wiggins won’t be hanging up his boots quite yet.
It’s a typically overcast October day as I stand outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in my most comfortable shoes. I’m about to embark on a walk that will take me from Tottenham to the home of their north London rivals Arsenal, over six kilometres away. Both are competing in the upper echelons of football in the Champions League, but today is about much more than the glitz and glamour of sport at the highest level. The top tiers thrive because of the passion that props them up from every level below. And I’m about to get a glimpse of that in action, as I’m here to accompany Xavier Wiggins on this two-hour walk, which is merely a tiny leg of his incredible journey spanning over 3,100 kilometres, and all on foot.
Minutes after arriving at Spurs, out comes Wiggins with a rucksack and a cheery smile, despite the sheer scale of this undertaking. He is on a mission to walk to all 92 of the professional league clubs in England and Wales in as many days. Today is day 76 of his epic journey and the finish line is in sight. The idea behind the project is to raise vital funds for a variety of community initiatives that use football as a force for positive change.
“Football’s just so hugely popular,” he says when asked about how the sport drives so much change. “To a local community, the badge of their team means so much and the power of it is so huge.”
Wiggins knows more than most about how deeply football can impact people and their communities. As a passionate AFC Wimbledon fan, he co-founded the Dons Local Action Group (DLAG) during the COVID pandemic to serve isolated individuals in the club community with food collections. The impact was felt deeply and DLAG has continued growing since. Wiggins even earned himself a British Empire Medal in the process.
Walk92 is yet another testament to Wiggins’ commitment to using the power of football to support those around him – although this requires maybe a little more stamina than his previous efforts. I’m interested to find out how one prepares for a journey of this scale. “You literally get up in the morning, and you just do it,” he laughs. “You don’t think about it. If it rains, you put a jacket on and you put your hood over. If the road is tough, you put your head down and you walk.” He knows a thing or two about tough roads. He’s had to walk everything from windy yet scenic paths to barren concrete roads along motorways – the only respite coming when he gets to a hotel to sleep at night.
“So many people could do this,” he says optimistically, just as I’m thinking the exact opposite. “They’ll think of course they can’t walk for 92 days straight. Well, guess what? Some bloke who was nearly 20 stone and wasn’t physically fit is doing it!”
Walk92 has also recruited many other walkers who have joined in on certain legs of the journey to raise funds for charities of their choosing. The money raised by Wiggins himself will be split down the middle, with 50 per cent going to his Dons Local Action Group and the other 50 per cent shared between charities Sport Local Action and the Street Soccer Foundation.
At every club he visits, he has been welcomed warmly, given a tour of the facilities and a chance to speak to their community outreach programme and foundation leaders, drawing attention to all the good they are doing. As we approach Arsenal, I ask him what this adventure has taught him.
“Mainly that we can achieve a lot more than we think and that people are inherently kind. I’ve encountered so much kindness. And I think people are keen to see good stories. I could write a book on football’s ills, but I could just as easily write a book on the good that it does. I’d rather focus on the good.”
I only walked around 11 kilometres during my time with him but I left feeling inspired – and slept like a baby. For Wiggins, who basically did the equivalent of our journey nearly 300 times over, the relief when he reached the final steps of his quest in Plymouth, a few days after our walk, must have been unimaginable. With £60,000 raised, I ask him how he’ll celebrate. He says, “I think I definitely want to just sleep with the knowledge of not having to go anywhere the next day. I’ll take a couple of days to chill out, and then get planning for what’s next.” Clearly, Wiggins won’t be hanging up his boots quite yet.
It’s a typically overcast October day as I stand outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in my most comfortable shoes. I’m about to embark on a walk that will take me from Tottenham to the home of their north London rivals Arsenal, over six kilometres away. Both are competing in the upper echelons of football in the Champions League, but today is about much more than the glitz and glamour of sport at the highest level. The top tiers thrive because of the passion that props them up from every level below. And I’m about to get a glimpse of that in action, as I’m here to accompany Xavier Wiggins on this two-hour walk, which is merely a tiny leg of his incredible journey spanning over 3,100 kilometres, and all on foot.
Minutes after arriving at Spurs, out comes Wiggins with a rucksack and a cheery smile, despite the sheer scale of this undertaking. He is on a mission to walk to all 92 of the professional league clubs in England and Wales in as many days. Today is day 76 of his epic journey and the finish line is in sight. The idea behind the project is to raise vital funds for a variety of community initiatives that use football as a force for positive change.
“Football’s just so hugely popular,” he says when asked about how the sport drives so much change. “To a local community, the badge of their team means so much and the power of it is so huge.”
Wiggins knows more than most about how deeply football can impact people and their communities. As a passionate AFC Wimbledon fan, he co-founded the Dons Local Action Group (DLAG) during the COVID pandemic to serve isolated individuals in the club community with food collections. The impact was felt deeply and DLAG has continued growing since. Wiggins even earned himself a British Empire Medal in the process.
Walk92 is yet another testament to Wiggins’ commitment to using the power of football to support those around him – although this requires maybe a little more stamina than his previous efforts. I’m interested to find out how one prepares for a journey of this scale. “You literally get up in the morning, and you just do it,” he laughs. “You don’t think about it. If it rains, you put a jacket on and you put your hood over. If the road is tough, you put your head down and you walk.” He knows a thing or two about tough roads. He’s had to walk everything from windy yet scenic paths to barren concrete roads along motorways – the only respite coming when he gets to a hotel to sleep at night.
“So many people could do this,” he says optimistically, just as I’m thinking the exact opposite. “They’ll think of course they can’t walk for 92 days straight. Well, guess what? Some bloke who was nearly 20 stone and wasn’t physically fit is doing it!”
Walk92 has also recruited many other walkers who have joined in on certain legs of the journey to raise funds for charities of their choosing. The money raised by Wiggins himself will be split down the middle, with 50 per cent going to his Dons Local Action Group and the other 50 per cent shared between charities Sport Local Action and the Street Soccer Foundation.
At every club he visits, he has been welcomed warmly, given a tour of the facilities and a chance to speak to their community outreach programme and foundation leaders, drawing attention to all the good they are doing. As we approach Arsenal, I ask him what this adventure has taught him.
“Mainly that we can achieve a lot more than we think and that people are inherently kind. I’ve encountered so much kindness. And I think people are keen to see good stories. I could write a book on football’s ills, but I could just as easily write a book on the good that it does. I’d rather focus on the good.”
I only walked around 11 kilometres during my time with him but I left feeling inspired – and slept like a baby. For Wiggins, who basically did the equivalent of our journey nearly 300 times over, the relief when he reached the final steps of his quest in Plymouth, a few days after our walk, must have been unimaginable. With £60,000 raised, I ask him how he’ll celebrate. He says, “I think I definitely want to just sleep with the knowledge of not having to go anywhere the next day. I’ll take a couple of days to chill out, and then get planning for what’s next.” Clearly, Wiggins won’t be hanging up his boots quite yet.
