Teacher leads UK team to victory in European Footgolf Championships

Video report by ITV News Meridian's Joe Coshan

A primary school teacher from Gillingham has been celebrating scoring the winning shot to help Team UK win the European Footgolf Championships.

It is a major tournament that tests even the best footballers on a golf course. It is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Karl Baker-May was part of the squad that tied horns with France in an intense final that went all the way to the 18th hole.

Karl Baker-May said: "I was in the position where we needed to win the hole to win the European Championships, so I was just trying to leave it close.

"It was about 30 yards away, with 25 mile per hour winds, so it was probably a 1 in 100 shot, it was just lucky for me that it went in.

"The scenes after were crazy, but I had to come home and go back to teaching at Lordswood School.

"The team were able to celebrate properly but I had to fly back to be ready for a 9 o'clock swimming class the next day."

The team have won their 3rd European Championship on the bounce. They are so confident in fact, they forgot to take the trophy with them.

Ben Clarke, the World No.1 in Footgolf said: "You're meant to bring the trophy back to the next tournament, but we forgot to pack it.

"A lot of our opponents were giving us funny looks when we didn't bring it, but in the end we didn't need to, defending our title saved on the baggage."

Paul Oliver, UK Footgolf, said: "What footgolf allows is that ability for anyone to play from any background.

"It's a case of grab a ball, kick it down the fairways and get it in the big hole.

"We're introducing new categories next year like over 50s, over 55s, ladies and ladies seniors, just to try and grow the sport further.

"We want to be the first country that everybody looks to for success."