A year that fits the Bill
December 31, 2010Ensconced in the English capital since 1958, Bill Reilly continues to fly the GAA flag. It's many moons now since the Louth man lined out for Dromiskin Unknowns back home (his last game was actually against Darver Volunteers, who have since joined forces with the Unknowns to form St Josephs) but he has served the Brother Pearses club in Kilburn superbly as chairman and was thrilled by the success the club tasted in 2010.
As well as playing a leading role in the promotion of gaelic games in London, Bill also gets home to attend all the Wee County's championship matches and he was naturally impressed by the performances of Peter Fitzpatrick's charges this year … though obviously disappointed that they were so hard-done-by on Leinster final day.
Regarding events on the club scene in London, the long-serving Brother Pearses man notes: "We won the intermediate, which brings us back up to senior, so it was a good year. It's definitely an improvement on what we've achieved in recent years, but we're going to have to do even better next year because we're back up with the big boys now. Hopefully there are some good days ahead for the Pearses.
"We had a few lean years there where we found it difficult to even field a team, partly due to the Celtic Tiger economy back home, but things have turned around again. More and more people are coming out to London and we're picking up a lot of new players. We were stronger in 2010 but we'll have to be stronger again next season."
Bill remains a Louth man first and foremost and he loves nothing better than returning home - either to the Wee County itself or to Croke Park when the Reds are in action. As it happened, that was quite often in 2010 as Louth stormed through to the Leinster final with wins over Longford, Kildare and Westmeath before all-but-beating Meath on the big day only to be denied by an already-infamous refereeing howler. Some of the stuffing was gone by the time they locked horns with the Dubs in the Qualifiers...
"I had a good few trips home this year," the MD of W Reilly Ltd. (civil engineering contractor) continues. "I was in Croke Park for the Leinster final and again for the Dublin game, which was a bit of a downer. All in all, Louth had a very good season - their best in 50 years - but we were all very disappointed to lose the Leinster final the way we lost it. Any GAA people that I've spoken to since, the very first thing they mention when you tell them you're from Louth is the Leinster final. There has been a lot of sympathy for Louth and people realise that we were robbed but, to be honest, we'd far rather have the Delaney Cup. The players did enough and they deserved to be Leinster champions. The damage was done by the time they met Dublin. Who knows what might have happened if they'd won Leinster?"
Like all other Louth men, Bill was extremely proud of the performances of the team during the year: "They played great football up to the Leinster final and nobody can ever say any different, but I was disappointed with the performance against Dublin. They were never in that game. If they'd beaten Meath, I'm sure they'd have played a lot better in their next game. Remember, Louth had beaten Kildare in a thrilling match and Kildare came very close to reaching the All-Ireland final. But it just didn't happen for us, and it was disappointing in the end that we didn't get our just rewards."
Looking forward to 2011, can the team consolidate their new-found status as one of the province's leading lights? "They have got a very nice draw and with a bit of luck they should be in a Leinster final again - though you can't take anything for granted in championship football. There is a worry that we might lose two or three of our players and that would be a devastating blow. Hopefully we can get them work and keep them all at home because we have the basis of a good team there but can't afford to lose any of them. If we keep everyone on board, I would expect them to get stronger. Louth now know what they can do. There should be no inferiority complex. We know we can beat good teams. We beat Kildare and we would have beaten Meath only for a bad refereeing decision. I reckon we are in the Top Ten in Ireland at the moment so it's important to start the year with a strong league campaign and then take it from there…"
How disappointing was it to go so close to Leinster glory and then miss out in such agonising manner? To be undone by a mistake from the referee with the Delaney Cup practically in the bag? How frustrated were the Louth faithful at GAA HQ that day in July? "It was terrible. A Leinster championship would have been like an All-Ireland to us this year, after going so long without success. It would have made our year and it would have been something to look back upon with great joy, but now when we look back it's just bad memories and we'll never get it out of our heads. Louth would never mind being beaten fair and square - you'd take it on the chin - but you don't like to be beaten under those circumstances."
One of the consolations for Louth GAA supporters was when brilliant county captain Paddy Keenan was recognised with an All Star award in October. Bill says: "It was brilliant to see Paddy selected and the award was richly deserved. It's hard to believe he's our first All Star because we've produced some fine footballers. I think we were exceptionally unlucky with three players in recent years - Seamus O'Hanlon, Colin Kelly and Stefan White. They were all wonderful footballers but Louth had a low profile. If Louth had got to a Leinster final 15 years ago, one of them would have got it, but with us being in the doldrums it was never going to happen…
"Paddy is a very good footballer and I'm delighted for him. He's only 26, so hopefully he has many more good years ahead leading Louth. If the All Stars were picked in mid-July, we would probably have got both midfielders because Brian White was excellent up until then, while John O'Brien was the only man to hold Bernard Brogan scoreless from play all year and had a superb season."
Bill hopes to see his beloved Brother Pearses continue to make progress in 2011 as they return to the London SHC. One of his dreams is to see the Kilburn-based club involved on All-Ireland club final day. As for his life in the English capital, the man from Dromiskin says he has no regrets despite his deep love of the Wee County:
"You often wonder what would have happened if you'd stayed at home, but it's only conjecture and you can't turn the clock back. Things have worked out well for me, so there's no point even thinking about it. When I left Ireland, there were no prospects there. In the '50s, everybody was leaving and most people I know came over here. We had no other choice because there was no work for us in Ireland."
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