Waterford F.C.

Waterford FC 1930–1982

Waterford first participated in the league in the 1930–31 season finishing ninth and again from 1931–32 before dropping out of the league for two seasons. Waterford re-entered the league in the 1935–36 season along with Sligo Rovers. Waterford won the Shield in their first season.

Waterford won the FAI cup for the first time in their history in 1937 beating St. James Gate and also won the Shield.

The club were league runners up in 1937–38 season and again in the 1940–41 season. Both Waterford and League winners Cork United finished on equal points but Cork were awarded the title as Waterford were unable to compete in the play-off due to a dispute regarding payment to players. At the end of the campaign, the original Waterford resigned from the League of Ireland, only for a new entity, with the same name, to be elected in, for 1944–45 season. Waterford won the Shield again in the 1952–53 season and were again runners-up in the League this time to St. Patricks Athletic in the 1954–55 season and again in the 1962–63 season.

The club eventually won the league title for the first time in the 1965–66 season, (under manager Paddy Coad) setting a then league record of 13 straight league victories. The 1965/66 title was the beginning of a hugely successful spell for the club domestically. The following season they played in the preliminary round of the Champions cup against Vorwärts Berlin, an East German and Army side, losing 6–1 at Dalymount Park and 6–0 in East Berlin.

They won the Shield once again in 1968–69 season. Waterford won the league title three times in a row, in 1968,1969 and in 1970. The title was won by Cork Hibernians in 1971 but returned to Waterford in the 1971–1972 season and again in the 1972–73 season. The following season Waterford won the League of Ireland Cup, however failed to regain the league title.

The Club won the FAI Cup for the second time under Tommy Jackson in 1980 beating St Patricks Athletic with the winner from Brian Gardner.^[3]

Waterford's success in the league over the years brought European football where they played against famous clubs such as Manchester United^[4] and Celtic.^[5][6] Bobby Charlton had a brief spell at the club in 1976, playing three times and scoring one goal.^[7]

Waterford United 1982–2016

In May 1982, the Club changed its name to Waterford United. Alfie Hale was appointed manager. In 1985 the league's membership rose to 22 clubs with the election of six new clubs in 1985. This resulted in the introduction of the present two Division (Premier and First) structure in 1985/86 of which Waterford was a member of the Premier Division. Waterford were relegated to the First Division in the 1988–89 season. Their stay there was short, gaining promotion and winning the First Division title the following season 1989–90. They were unable to retain their Premier Division status the following season finishing in eleventh.

The club was promoted to the top flight in the 1991–92 season finishing as runners up to Limerick. But again the club were unable to remain in the Premier Division for more than a single season suffering relegation on goal difference to Drogheda United.

Waterford United were promoted to the Premier Division, finishing top of the First Division in the 1997–98 season and remained there until the 1999–00 season suffering relegation in the playoffs to Kilkenny City.

Jimmy McGeough was appointed manager in 2002.^[8] In his first season he led the club to promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division in the 2002–03 season.

The League of Ireland changed from a winter league to a summer league for the 2003 season. Waterford finished 6th under Jimmy McGeough. Despite the good season he was controversially sacked, the decision was very unpopular with the clubs supporters.^[9]

In 2004 The Blues finished 5th and they reached the FAI Cup Final, their first since 1986 under Alan Reynolds as player-manager and Paul McGrath as Director of Football but lost 2–1 to Longford Town.^[10]

In 2006 Waterford United were relegated to the First Division. The FAI took over the running of the League of Ireland at the end of the 2006 season. Part of this takeover involved the assessment of all League of Ireland sides and the manner in which they were being run including finances, infrastructure, future plans, marketability and previous finishing positions since the 2002 season, (this was due to Kildare County only joining the Eircom League in 2002). Despite finishing in 11th and last place ( Dublin City being the 12th team in the league and subsequently folding during the season) the club were forced to play a relegation/promotion playoff against Dundalk. Despite being defeated Waterford United still stood a chance of remaining a Premier Division side due to the FAI assessment. However, on 8 December 2006 the FAI decided to relegate Waterford to the 1st Division with Shamrock Rovers and Galway United replacing them and the now defunct Dublin City. Dundalk, despite beating Waterford in a playoff,^[11] were controversially overlooked and remained in the First Division. However, on 20 February 2007 it was announced that Waterford United had been invited to participate in the Premier Division for the forthcoming season. Club secretary Larry Gough stated "The club considered the proposal carefully and decided to accept the invitation in the best interests of football in Waterford and the eircom league".^[12] However, The "Blues" were relegated that season via the play-offs losing 6–3 on aggregate to Finn Harps.^[13]

After the clubs relegation Waterford went into the 2008 season knowing that only one team from the First Division would be promoted as the FAI planned to revamp the league. A valiant effort from Cronin's Blues saw them come so close yet so far as the "Blues" fell away towards the business end of the season leaving Dundalk and Shelbourne to compete for promotion on the final day of the season.

In 2009 former Bohemians player, Stephen Henderson took over as boss at the Club and in his first season, the Blues narrowly missed out yet again for the playoffs and reached the EA Sports Cup Final where they were defeated 3–1 by Bohemians^[14] and the FAI Cup semi-finals.^[15]The club also finished in 4th in the League, missing out on the play offs.

Henderson signed a one-year extension to his contract for the 2010 season. His side finished in 2nd place just three points off champions Derry City. His side came up against Monaghan United in the play offs but were defeated 3–1 in the RSC.^[16]

In May 2011 Henderson was sacked after a run of poor form.^[17] Waterford native, Paul O'Brien was appointed manager for the duration of the season.^[18] Waterford United finished 5th in the 2011 League of Ireland First Division. The board in the off season then appointed Paul as full-time manager on a year contract for the 2012 season.

Paul O'Briens side fell narrowly short of promotion, they defeated champions Limerick four times in four games but still finished 4 points behind them. This meant the play offs once again for Waterford. In the first section of the play offs Waterford beat 3rd placed Longford Town 3–1 on aggregate.^[19]This set up a tie with Dundalk of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The first leg ended in a 2–2 draw in Oriel Park but Waterford were defeated 2–0 in the second leg at the RSC and would once again remain in the First Division.^[20]

The Blues were favourites to lift the Title in 2013 but during the season O'Brien resigned due to poor form.^[21] Waterford finished in 4th, missing out on the play offs. During the 2013 season former manager Stephen Henderson was seeking compensation from his previous contract, Henderson claimed he was sacked despite the club claiming he resigned, the clubs supporters were forced to step in and raise the money Henderson was owed before the club could be wound up.^[22] Tommy Griffin was appointed manager for the 2014 season.^[23] The club encountered financial difficulties once again, this led to the club slipping down the table to a 7th-place finish.

After a disappointing start to 2015 Griffin stepped aside into a new role in the club and Roddy Collins was appointed as manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal.^[24] Collins side finished 7th in his first season. In the 2016 season, Collins signed a lot of players he worked with before such as Philip Gorman, James O'Brien and his son, Roddy Collins Jr, and many others. With two games left in the 2016 season and Waterford in 6th it was announced Roddy Collins would leave the club.^[25]

Takeover and back to original name

After the suffering many years both on and off the pitch, the Club needed a big shake up from top to bottom. After weeks of speculation on social media the Club officially announced that Swindon Town chairman Lee Power had assumed control.^[26] Shortly after taking control, he outlined his plan to rebrand the Club from top to bottom, removing 'United' from the Club's name, going back to the original name of Waterford FC. He also wished to change the Club's crest and jersey to something more traditional. On 2 January 2017, the Club announced the new managerial team for the coming season. The new Head Coach was former player and manager Alan Reynolds and Pat Fenlon was appointed as the Club's new Director of Football.^[27] As the squad started to take shape, the Club officially announced on 20 January 2017 that they would change back to the Club's original identity with a name change to Waterford FC. They also unveiled the new crest which was a modernised version of the Club's first ever crest from 1930.^[28] Under the new leadership Waterford FC signed high profile players and ran the club in a new professional way. The club has developed a strong fanbase over the 2017 season and this was coupled with promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division. After Waterford beat Wexford 3–0 and Cobh Ramblers were defeated 3–0 by Cabinteely Waterford were officially crowned league champions and promoted back to the Premier Division.^[29]

Supporters

The club draws its support not only from Waterford City, but also from Waterford County and the South East region as a whole. Waterford fans have organised themselves into 3 fan groups.

Groups

Blues Supporter Club (B.S.C)

The Blues Supporters Club is the official Waterford FC fans group. It was formed in December 2009 after members of the IBSC (Independent Blues Supporters Club) voted to become an official fans group. From the 2010 season, the BSC organises transport for Blues fans to away games, run the Club shop as well as organise numerous fund raising activities and other match day activities for Waterford FC. There is also a branch of the BSC based in Dungarvan that accommodates Blues fans living in West Waterford. Membership is now open for the 2018 season and information can be found on Waterford FC home page and on Facebook. The current chairperson of the BSC is Shane Murphy.

Dublin Blues Supporters Club (DBSC)

The DBSC was formed in January 2007 as an independent outlet for Dublin and East Leinster based Waterford FC fans. The DBSC organises transport, usually trains for Dublin-based fans to away matches. Despite repeated attempts by the BSC to co-opt the DBSC into its organisation, the then DBSC President, Niall Doherty announced publicly that the DBSC would remain an independent supporters group. The DBSC operated a fan run radio station, Radio DBSC, established in May 2012 which provided internet radio commentary for Waterford United away games. In December 2013, the Radio DBSC Board voted to dissolve itself and merged with local radio station OpenTempo 105.1FM rebranding itself under the name, OpenTempo FM Sports Online. OpenTempo stopped broadcasting Blues games in the early part of the 2016 season. In April 2014, Niall Doherty stepped down as President of the DBSC and handed over the reins of power to his designated successor, Patrick Lynn.

Block E Boys

The BAU was formed in January 2006 to bring an Italian-style Ultra atmosphere to the RSC and to away matches.^[33] During the 2016 season, the group went through a re structure and changed the name to "The Block E Boys".^[34]

Rivals

Waterford contest the Munster Derby with Cork City. Waterford had big derbies with Cork City in the 2000s when Waterford were in the Premier Division and then again when Cork City Foras entered the First Division in the early 2010s. The derby with Cork always being Munsters biggest clash died off when Cork City started challenging the top of the table in the Premier Division and Waterford plummeted to the bottom end of the First Division around 2014.^[35] When Waterford drew Cork in the cups the club would usually be easily beaten. When Waterford played Cork in Turners Cross in the EA Sports Cup in 2016 they were beaten 7–0. However the rivalry was somewhat rekindled in 2017 after Waterford were taken over by Lee Power, a heavy challenge by Patrick McClean on Corks Sean Maguire caused controversy, it led to a huge dispute on social media between Waterford and Cork players with Irish internationals James McClean and Shane Duffy also getting involved defending Patrick's tackle.^[36][37] And despite Waterford being in the First Division they manage to secure the signing of Waterford born Cork centre back Kenny Browne who was on the back of a great season where he starred for the rebels as they won the FAI Cup. The move caused huge controversy with Cork manager John Caulfield.^[38][39] Both clubs are now back in the top division for 2018 along with Limerick.

Waterford have also had a local south east derby game against near neighbours Wexford since 2007 but there has never been any significant rivalry between the clubs.

Waterford had a big rivalry with Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s and 70s. The and is referred to as the 'old feud' in recent times.

Overview

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1966–67	European Cup	PR	Vorwärts Berlin	1–6	0–6	1–12
1968–69	European Cup	1R	Manchester United	1–3	1–7	2–10
1969–70	European Cup	1R	Galatasaray	2–3	0–2	2–5
1970–71	European Cup	1R	Glentoran	1–0	3–1	4–1
		2R	Celtic	0–7	2–3	2–10
1972–73	European Cup	2R	AC Omonia	0–2	2–1	2–3
1973–74	European Cup	1R	Újpest FC	2–3	0–3	2–6
1979–80	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	IFK Göteborg	1–1	0–1	1–2
1980–81	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Hibernians	4–0	0–1	4–1
		2R	Dinamo Tbilisi	0–1	0–4	0–5
1986–87	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Bordeaux	1–2	0–4	1–6

Notes

• PR: Preliminary round
• 1R: First round
• 2R: Second round