Season of Good Willie

What a difference 6 months makes!

This blog has been active for almost a year now. It was initiated when one of our number, Blind Willie, drew my attention to a newspaper item that he had seen (surprisingly, through those glasses) and which echoed some of the camaraderie on and off the pitch that we have experienced as a middle aged bunch of has been footballers, for a number of years now. The blueprint for our game is that we still enjoy kicking the ball of air around, chasing it and each other with the target of being more successful than the opposition. Girly Bhoy has excelled in the twilight of his career and must be a runner in the Player of the Season vote at the Xmas gathering this coming Saturday - 6pm for 7pm in the Morning Star.

Something that has been even more impressive than Girly's success in the far east is the fact that Blind Willie has played football at all these last 4 months. You will all be aware that today he has undergone major surgery with his team of surgeons remarking how impressed they were at his fitness level and, "even more impressed with the fact that he played football right up to Monday night". So perhaps there is an ulterior motive to the Monday night madness and Willie is reaping the rewards of that now. For all our sakes, I hope so.

The news from ICU is good. Willie came through what was intended to be a 6 hour operation in 5 hours. Within an hour of coming out of the anaesthetic he was chatting up the young nurses and telling them about this great night he has planned for Saturday in the Morning Star. The physio has had him on his feet to get the lungs functioning again - some advice from Weiry might be useful there - and all the signs are very positive at this early stage. We are all unanimous in wishing Willie a speedy recovery but maybe not in time for Saturday as Brian has heard there might be a free meal available.

A fit again Weiry with Ron last weekend

Two photos of Weiry in one blog! What's going on? Well, as you can see Weiry is making giant strides towards recovery after his double lung transplant. The photo is from the Dessie Armstrong Formal which was attended by the current Armstrong Cup holders. Weiry spoke at the event encouraging all to consider organ donation without which we might not have had this photograph.

With all this serious news, it hardly seems relevant to report the scores of the last couple of Monday night encounters. You will hear all about that glorious hat trick on Saturday!!