FORMER Oswestry Town manager Len Kilby died recently in Shrewsbury at the age of 85.
Len had a long and successful association with Welshpool as a player and manager and won Mid-Wales honours as a plaer, assembling a fine team for them in the 1970s.
Kilby took the managerial reigns in 1965 and went on to mastermind the club’s dominance of Mid Wales football during the 1970s - winning the league in 1971, 1972 and 1977.
Len came to Oswestry following a heavy Blues' defeat at Victoria Road against Bangor City in the Welsh Cup, almost 2,000 fans present to witness the pain.
Fred Morris had left the club in March 1973 with Len taking over at the start of the new season.
Working on a much smaller budget, the side finished 17th, but had the pleasure of a fine Welsh Cup run, holding Bangor at Farrar Road and beating them in the replay before another good gate at Victoria Road, the reward a fifth round home game against Cardiff City.
More glory was to come for Kilby the following season with a 10th-place league finish, a run to the first round of the FA Cup and a home game against Doncaster Rovers.
This was followed by another Welsh Cup run that saw Oswestry drawn away to Cardiff in the fifth round.
The season finished with a bang, when the Blues won the Championship of the Border Counties Floodlit League for the first time, defeating Bath City in the last game and only having one loss in the whole campaign.
Len promised to entertain and his sides certainly did. He was to step down before the club's entry into the Southern League the following season and returned to Welshpool to enjoy further success with another title in 1977.