Westport set for big football reunion

FRIENDSHIP, fun and football will be recalled and rekindled on Sunday evening in Westport when players, coaches, supporters and families gather to remember a lifetime of association football in the area.

Lifelong friends, Pat Duffy and Ronnie Ring came up with the idea recently and it has quickly become one of the most eagerly-anticipated social events of the season.

“I live in Derry now and recently I realised that we only really meet up at funerals these days. The years are slipping by and sadly some fine people are passing away, so Ronnie and myself came up with the idea of having a little reunion of everyone who played soccer in Westport over the years.

“We didn’t realise how big it would become. We thought it might be a few lads meeting up and remembering a few games, but it has become much more than that,” Duffy told The Mayo News and Ring agreed.

“Playing football is part of what we are here in Westport and our lives have always been wrapped around it. All our friends, all our families, everyone we grew up with have been past of it and we sometimes don’t realise it.

“When someone mentioned that we only seem to all come together at funerals these days, we decided to do something about it and that's how next Saturday night came about,” Ring continued.

The gathering, dubbed ‘The Big Football Reunion’ will kick-off in Danny’s Bar next Sunday evening at 6pm and all who played for, coached or supported Westport United, Westport Crusaders, Fahy Rovers, Westport Textiles, Stella Maris or Westport Sporting Club are heartily invited to come along and meet old friends.

“So many great people have been involved in football here in Westport over the years and if I started naming them I’d be here for an hour,” Duffy, a Development Officer with the FAI, told The Mayo News.

“We’ve all had so much fun over the years and made so many lifelong friends. Great memories have been made along the way and I’m sure there will be many great stories next Sunday evening when everyone gathers in Danny’s,” he added before recalling one particular tale.

“The Pope came to Ireland in 1979 and when he got off the plane in Dublin he knelt down and kissed the ground. Westport United were playing away in Shraigh a few days afterwards and when we arrived in the bus, one of the lads got off and bent down and kissed the ground as the Erris people wondered who the madman was. That’s the lovely type of fun we had along the way.

“Of course, there’s a serious side to football too and everyone likes to win and be the best they can be. We’re proud to have many internationals from the area over the years and now we have four young men from the town playing League of Ireland football and with so much great work being done in (Westport) United and Fahy Rovers at the moment the number of young men and women playing for Ireland and at a high level will only increase.”

On Sunday next the fun and friendship of football in Westport will echo off the walls in Danny’s. It promises to be a reunion like no other. A full report on the event will be carried in The Mayo News.

PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured in the back row (left to right) are Michael McBride, Pádraig McManamon, Pádraic Cresham, Iain McLoughlin, Joe Kelly, Chris Grady, Myles Joyce, Martin Coghlan, Michael McDonagh (manager). Front row (left to right): Noel Moran (captain), Stephen Duffy, Brendan Horan, John McKenna, Pat Grady, John Fahy and Gerry McDonald Pic: Frank Dolan