SPL Trust Football Fans in Training - TV Documentary

Documentary on the Football Fans in Training including the Pars course

Scottish men are flocking to their local Scottish Premier League clubs to help them live a healthier lifestyle by losing weight and taking more exercise. Over a 1000 men across Scotland have signed up to the award winning Football Fans in Training (FFIT) programme, which is being run in all SPL clubs this season.

Over the 12 week programme, BBC Scotland has been following the progress of participants at three of the clubs, Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic and St Johnstone.

SPL Trust General Manager, Billy Singh said:

"The ability of the SPL football clubs to effect change in society is immense. Football Fans in Training provides the opportunity for fans to get behind the walls of the club and make changes in their lives that will positively affect them for years to come. This TV documentary is a testament to the hard work of the SPL clubs and the men who have made FFIT such a great success."

75 per cent of men in Scotland between the age of 35 and 65 are overweight and one quarter of all men in this age group are clinically obese. Football Fans in training follows a handful of men who undertake an immense personal journey - from the real prospect of an early death to regaining control of their lives.

At the start of the course the guys cannot run for one minute, but 12 weeks later they are playing a game of football and going to the gym. We witness not only the physical transformation but also the psychological change in the mens' lives, from overweight and despairing to being in control and revelling in a real lust for life

Broadcast date: Sunday 19th February at 18.45 on BBC2 Scotland - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cmsvr