Saddlers Legends

Jimmy O’Neill is maybe not a name that many Saddlers fans know of but he was one of very few shining lights during the early 1960’s as we struggled to hold onto our place in the Second Division.

O’Neill arrived at Fellows Park from Sunderland in late 1962 and although he only played 40 games for us he bagged himself 12 goals, and lets face it, for a midfielder one goal in every four games isn’t too shabby!

An attack-minded midfielder, O’Neill’s goals often were of huge importance. He scored the shock winner against a Chelsea side that included the likes of England goalkeeper Peter ‘the cat’ Bonetti and this continued even after we were relegated to the Third Division in 1963.

Some would say O’Neill deserved more success than he got when he was at Walsall and after the relegation to the Third Division in his first season it didn’t take long before he left for new challenges.

He went on to play down under at Hakoah before returning to Britain for a time with Darlington.

Unfortunately O’Neill is often forgotten amongst Walsall fans but like I said at the beginning, any man who can score a winner against Chelsea in a Walsall shirt is a hero of mine!

If you remember O’Neill let us know your memories on our forum.