The combined efforts of Winsford United officials Bob Astles and Steve Wright have helped a resident of a local care home to locate a copy of a club history booklet written by her late husband.

The story began in late September, when Bob received an e-mail from Val Payne, the manager of a care home in Frodsham. Bob explained:

“In the e-mail, Val asked if I could help her locate a small paperback book entitled “History of Winsford United F.C.”, which was written by a man called Royston Blackburn and published approximately five years ago.

“The e-mail went on to say that sadly Mr Blackburn has passed away, but his widow was a resident in the care home and would dearly like to obtain a copy. Therefore, any information I was able provide would be greatly appreciated.

“I knew of the booklet, but I didn’t have a copy myself. However, I remembered that Steve had mentioned something about this booklet in the past, so I forwarded the e-mail to him to see if he could help”.

Steve takes up the story:

“By a strange coincidence, I had two copies of the booklet sitting on my desk when I received the email from Bob. I immediately contacted Val, explained who I was and that I had a copy I would be more than happy to take up to Frodsham straight away. She said Maureen (Mrs Blackburn) would be overjoyed.

“I had first contacted Royston Blackburn early last year, as we had discovered a few copies of his booklet and thought it would be a good idea if I contacted him and asked his permission to reprint it in the match day programme.

“Royston Blackburn was born and brought up in Winsford, and as a boy he was often taken by his father to see Winsford United playing. He became a reporter on a local weekly newspaper in the 1950s and he covered hundreds of Winsford United matches, both home and away. He later became a journalist on evening newspapers in Nottingham and Leicester.

“It took a bit of investigation to find Mr Blackburn, but I eventually got a phone number and address from the local library. The head librarian there remembered Mr Blackburn doing a lot of his information gathering in the library, reading old newspapers etc. He managed to get me the details and after a short conversation with Mr Blackburn, he agreed to let us print the contents of the booklet.

“Anyway, a short time after contacting Val at the care home, my wife and I set off to Frodsham with the booklet. When we arrived, we were met at the door by Val, who then ushered us into the lift to go and see Maureen. When the doors of the lift opened she was standing there waiting for us. She said she had seen us getting out of the car, me with the book in my hand, and rushed to the lift!

“After a few tears in the day room, Maureen and Val explained that when Royston passed away Maureen wasn’t well herself, so the family saw to everything. Unfortunately they got rid of a few things that Maureen really wanted to keep, so they had set about that morning to try and track a few things down.

“While Val was on the internet, Maureen mentioned the booklet, so they went to the club website and contacted Bob, as they thought being Club Secretary he would be the best person to start with. Then as they say, the rest is history.

“Although to us this was just a record of the club’s history, it means far more than that to Maureen, especially as the book is dedicated to: “my dear wife Maureen”. I shall never forget the look on Maureen’s face when we handed her the book - it was a look of joy tinged with sadness”.