The Benefits of Cycling, Walking and Wheeling to Football

---

The physical benefits of active travel are huge. Cycling, wheeling and walking strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels. As well as increasing your stamina and general fitness, want to be in good shape for your 5-a-side game, get out the car. Don't just listen to us, here's more information from Sustrans.

Air quality is a massive problem in our cities, we are breathing in toxic air and it is having a damaging impact on our health. Cycling emmits 10 times less CO2 p/km than a car, walking even less than that. For the scale of the problem, check out this study from Center for Cities that discovers over one in 19 deaths in UK cities and towns are linked to pollution. 

Often the forgotten group when talking about a matchday are local residents. A stadium provides benefits for  businesses, but it can have a negative affect on locals. Nitrous oxide pollution can increase at least five fold, making the air quality levels illegal under UK law. As well as busy transport and dangerous roads, locals are under great strain on matchday.

We have a responsibility as football fans to reduce the sports carbon footprint. Football does not live in a vacuum. It is predicted that  by 2050, 23 of the 92 clubs in the football league will have a significant problem with flooding and struggle to play out a full season. This brilliant video from TIFO football sums up why you, as a football fan, should care.

Exercise is proven to make you feel better, when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins that make you feel good. Exercising outside is even better, reports suggest it has a similar impact as meditating and has an immediate calming effect. Active travel is social, and helps you create bonds with fellow fans, yours and the opposition.

You're already paying a lot of money to see your team, why add to the cost by driving every week to do so? Yearly maintenance costs of cycling are over 10 times cheaper than a car, add on matchday parking and petrol, you could be saving thousands of pounds a season by ditching the car and getting on your bike or taking a walk to the ground.