Sixty years of Limerick’s sporting memorabilia

THE leafy West London suburb of Acton Town is not a place would expect to find a treasure trove of Limerick sporting history.

But Limerick exile Willie Roberts’ home is just that.

Since moving to London from his native Carey’s Road in 1950, Willie has been faithfully collating cuttings from the sports pages of the Limerick Leader.

He has converted warehouse order books - from his time working in the Wall’s meat factory - to scrapbooks filled with an enviable collection of cuttings and photographs from the Leader’s vast archive.

From a Patrickswell GAA teamsheet from November, 1965, to an interview with the great Mick Mackey, and a picture of snow being cleared at the Market’s Field, Willie’s collection straddles our most popular games.

But soccer and rugby - or more specifically, Limerick FC and Young Munster - are his two big loves.

And to this end, he has a framed picture of when his beloved side won the All Ireland League in 1993.

“My fondest memories would have been Limerick winning the cup in 1971, and Young Munster winning the All Ireland League in 1993. These are the two teams I have followed all my life. I think I would like soccer and rugby equally. I like hurling too, but it feels like Limerick have always had only half of a team,” he said.

Now 80, Willie moved to London when he was just 17 and a half years old.

He initially planned to stay there for a short holiday, but fell in love with the British capital, and took a job at the Wall’s sausage factory, working alongside 7,000 other people at one time.

He does not get back to Shannonside as often as he would like these days, dedicating much of his time to the Limerick Exiles Association, which meets in nearby Chiswick each month.

But back in the 1960s and 70s, Willie came back to Limerick at least twice a year.

Recalling the Cup Final between Limerick and Drogheda United in April 1971 - which he produces the newspaper cutting for - he says: “I remember they drew on the Wednesday night 0-0, then Limerick won 3-0 in the replay. I remember we had planned to go back on the Monday, but we had to stay until the Wednesday [to watch the game]. I said to my mum after the first game that we would have to stay an extra week to see the game. I remember I took two weeks off from the Walls factory, which was the maximum we could take at the time.”

Sadly, one of Willie’s most treasured possessions - a picture of the great Stanley Matthews on a visit to the Market’s Field - went missing.

Regretfully, he gave the picture to a friend, and has not seen it since.

A loyal Leader reader, Willie often buys two copies of the newspaper each week - and he plans to keep collecting.

He would never sell off the collection, saying: “This is better than winning the lottery!”.