In Memoriam: Piotr Suski (1942-2009)
David Wootton (1958-2009)

by Niall Doherty and Michael Butler
(first published in the March 2010 Wexford Youths programme)

It is sad to record that a member of the 1973 League Championship winning team, Peter Suski, passed away last year aged 66, largely forgotten by many of the younger generation of Blues fans, many of whom might ask, who was this guy?
Peter (more properly Piotr) was born in the central Polish city of Lodz in 1942 at the height of the Second World War. Lodz had seen great suffering at the hands of the Nazis and later the advancing Red Army, and it was against this austere post-war environment of communist Poland that Peter was born and raised. He grew up in a working class district and would spend many an evening of his childhood around LKS Lodz Stadium playing football with his friends, where he caught the attention of scout Stanislaw Baran. Baran persuaded the young Peter to join the LKS Academy where he signed up to the junior team and from there he made his debut for the LKS first team in 1959 as a 17 year old. He quickly established himself in the side as a versatile midfield player. In his debut season LKS Lodz won the Polish national league title beating Legia Warsaw to the finish line. Peter’s performances on the pitch soon merited a call up to the National squad where he subsequently went onto win 19 caps between 1961 and 1967. In 1966 came his finest hour in the red jersey.  Poland played Brazil in the Maracana Stadium in front of 130,000 fans against a Brazilian side that consisted of Pele, Garrincha, Carlos Alberto and Jairzinho. Poland lost 2-1 but for Peter it was one of his most memorable games.
 As the 1960s progressed, LKS went into a slow decline culminating in relegation to the Second Division in 1969, but in June 1971 they won promotion back to the top flight with a 1-0 win over  Hutnik Nowa Huta a game in which Peter was carried off the field by the adoring fans for his man of the match performance, a game which many LKS fans still fondly remember as his finest hour for the Spring Knights. However the following year for reasons unknown to many, Peter signed for Waterford and quickly established himself as a favourite among the Kilcohan faithful. When I noted Peter’s passing on the BTID message board recently, there was still strong memories of his time with Waterford. One fan recalled a Cup game against Cork Hibs in Kilcohan in early 1973. In a collision with Sonny Sweeney, Peter got his head split open. He simply left the field, got bandaged up, came back on and played the rest of the game much to the delight of the Blues faithful.
He helped the Blues win their 6th (and their last to date) league title before returning to Poland where, after a spell as player-coach with Wlokniarz Pabianice (later Wlokniarz Alexandroff), he returned to spend many years coaching with his home town club. After retirement, Peter remained involved with the club he loved and was inducted into the LKS Hall of Fame in deserved recognition of his work as a player, coach and ambassador. It is said that during his playing days, he turned down many offers from the top Polish clubs like Legia Warsaw and Gornik to stay with LKS Lodz yet he never turned down the Blues.
When we gather for the minutes silence today, not only will we remember Peter, but also past players, managers, friends and supporters of our beloved Club who have since passed on for the Great Football Show in the Sky. Peter Suski, though gone you will not be forgotten.
It is also with sadness we record the untimely death of 51-year-old David Wootton, who died in Dublin last November.
David, who played for Bolton FC as a schoolboy, was on their winning Evans Cup team in 1973, and represented the Republic of Ireland three times at underage level. He went on to sign for Waterford, and spent a couple of seasons with the reserve side, but just missed the breakthrough to the senior side that his talent deserved, and ultimately returned to local soccer.
Sincere sympathies are extended to both families.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh siad.