1970s: part one

Limerick started the 1970-71 season with a defeat against St Patrick’s Athletic. Successive defeats saw Limerick at the bottom of the League of Ireland table on 8 November. The Limerick Leader announced on 18 November that the club director, Lord Petersham was about to invest a large amount of money in the club. This sparked new interest in the club and a big crowd attended the Markets Field to see Limerick beat Drogheda on 22 November. They continued their success and finished in seventh place in the League of Ireland. But their greatest victory was to come in winning the FAI Cup that season beating Drogheda 3-0 in a replay. Celebrations went on for weeks in the city.

Remarkable Record
‘It is not often that Limerick A.F.C. figure amongst the trophy winners in League of Ireland football but a remarkable feature is that when they do strike it rich they do so, on the double. A glance through Limerick’s record over the past two decades indicates that success comes to them in five-year circles and furthermore they follow one victory with another.’

As a result of Limerick winning the FAI Cup they once again qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup and this time they were drawn against Torino of Italy. The first leg was played in Limerick at Thomond Park. A defensive mix-up allowed the Italians in and they ended up winning by a single goal. The second leg, played in Italy, saw the Italians winning 4-0

In early 1972 the Board of Directors of Limerick Soccer instructed Ewan Fenton to implement a wage cut amongst the players which did nothing to help the morale of the players and their match play. Things came to a head with the defeat by Finn Harps which put Limerick in the position of having to apply for re-election to the league for the coming season. They finished second last in the league.