Justin Walley

Explorer, Writer, and Football Coach in England, United Kingdom

Read my book

Football & travel are my big passions in life.

On December 5 2018, my debut book "One Football, No Nets" was published:

www.bennionkearny.com/one-football-no-nets-buy-the-book/

I am the Africa President of CONIFA.

Until August 2018, I was the Head Coach/Manager of Matabeleland - a region of Zimbabwe. In June 2018, I took the team to the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup in London.

To do so, I helped raise $30,000 and managed to get the team featured on CNN, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, AFP, NHK Japan, VICE etc. Goalkeeper legend Bruce Grobbelaar joined the team as our goalkeeper coach and brand ambassador.

We finished the World Cup with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats, including beating a country. We gained recognition all over the world for the way the team conducted itself.

In February 2017 I became the Africa Director for CONIFA, and a week later, I also joined Tackle Africa as one of their volunteer coaches. And for the 2017 season I coached Latvian 2nd League team FK Aliance.

Until October 2016, I dedicated several years to the development of Riga United Football Club in Latvia

I was involved in the founding of Riga United in 2007: Europe’s most cosmopolitan national league amateur football club.

We took the team to the Latvian national league in 2013. I was assistant coach for 2 seasons in Latvian League 2.

I helped create the Riga United Youth Academy in 2013. In 2014 I created Riga United Ladies, and two years later we won the Latvian Premier League bronze medal. In 2015, United's Ieva Bidermane was named the Best Female Footballer in Latvia. In 2016, one of our matches was shown live on Latvian national television, and we also broke the record attendance for a women's national league game with a crowd of 200.

In 2013, I Volunteered in Sierra Leone for the Craig Bellamy Foundation: an unforgettable & extremely rewarding experience.

Three years earlier I supported Bjørn Heidenstrøm's "The Shirt" project by hitchbiking with him from Kenya to South Africa. Bjørn's incredible journey started in Norway!

To date, I have attended 6 World Cups, 6 Euros, 2 Copa Americas, lived in 9 countries and visited 125 states & territories.

  • Work
    • Africa Director of CONIFA