Athlone has had it's share of sporting heroes down the years but none more so than the man responsible for bringing unprecedented success to the town's soccer club - the great Turlough O'Connor.

The Westmeath Independent's soccer correspondent KEVIN O'NEILL spoke to the Club's most successful manager ever, and we bring this to you now in a multi piece special.

Born in 1946 at Sarsfield Square in the town, the son of Turlough Snr., and Margaret O'Connor, Turlough O'Connor enjoyed a hugely successful playing and managerial career in the League of Ireland, that saw him lift silverware on a regular basis and, in the process, become a folk hero in his home town.

I DONT see myself coaching for much longer, maybe two more years. Mind you, I am absolutely loving it.

I'm involved in football all my life. I was on the Athlone junior team at the age of 14, and I played in the semi-final of the FAI Junior Cup at the age of 16 against Ierne. I managed the Athlone youths for seven years, and we got to the cup final three years in a row, in '83, '84 and '85.

Giving something back to the game he loves. That's the way ex-Athlone Town player Cyril Barnicle sees his involvement with local schoolboy club Willow Park.

"I joined Willow four years ago and it's great being involved. I do a bit with the Under 13's and 14's and really enjoy it," says Cyril, who played for the Town against AC Milan in 1975.

It might be difficult to pick out just one single star from Athlone Town's successful 80s era but ask anyone and the name Stefan Feniuk would never be too far from their lips.

The Manchester native spent almost 10 years with Athlone and in that time became one of the most respected players ever to grace the St. Mel's Park turf. Signed from Stoke City by Tony Talyor in 1977, Feniuk established himself as an intricate part of club for a decade. On a recent visit back to Athlone, Feniuk spoke to the Athlone Topic and reminisced about the town that he likes to call his 'second home.'

EVEN after all these years I am still really enjoying football. To be honest it's a dream to be involved in the game from Monday to Friday. My life, seemingly, is destined to be spent in tracksuit!

Training the girls at Athlone IT has been a real breath of fresh air. I think they've enjoyed it as much as Tom and I have. We work with them twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, and the college are good enough to bus them over to St Peters' marvellous all-weather facility. We normally have 24 or 25 girls at a session. These weeks will see that number drop slightly because of exams and semester assessments.