Waterford county football team

Waterford

Sport:	Football
Irish:	Port Láirge
Nickname(s):	The Déise[1]
County board:	Waterford GAA
Manager:	Ephie Fitzgerald
Recent competitive record
Current All-Ireland status:	Munster (QF) in 2022
Last championship title:	1898
Current NFL Division:	4 (8th in 2022)
Last league title:	None
First colours

The Waterford county football team represents Waterford in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Waterford GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Munster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Waterford's home ground is Fraher Field, Dungarvan and Walsh Park, Waterford. The team's manager is Ephie Fitzgerald.

The team last won the Munster Senior Championship in 1898, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

History

The team's greatest achievement is reaching the 1898 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, a game which was lost to Dublin by a scoreline of 2–08 to 0–04. Erin's Hope of Dungarvan represented the county in that game.

In recent times,^[when?] the team have twice won the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship (JFC).

In 2003, Waterford unexpectedly won a Munster Under-21 Football Championship, defeating Kerry in the final.

Waterford has not reached a Munster Senior Football Championship (SFC) final since 1960, has not defeated Kerry since 1957, Cork since 1960 and Limerick since 1981. On 20 May 2007, the team broke a 19-year run without a senior championship win by defeating Clare at Fraher Field, Dungarvan, by a scoreline of 1–06 to 0–07. Manager John Kiely's starting team consisted of: Tom Wall; Justin Walsh, Thomas O'Gorman, Shane Briggs; John Phelan, Edmond Rockett, Paul Ogle; Mick Ahern, John Hurney; Brian Wall, Gary Hurney, Ger Power; Wayne Hennessy, Andy Hubbord and Liam O'Lonain.

The team defeated Clare again in 2010.

On 7 April 2024, the team beat Tipperary for the first time since 1988, in the Munster quarter-final, but were beaten by Clare in the Munster semi-final. Waterford have still longest record without a Munster final.

League promotion

In 2010, after going so close to promotion in previous years Waterford went unbeaten in the league (defeating Leitrim, London, Kilkenny, Limerick, Clare and Wicklow and securing draws against Longford and Carlow), but fell short in the final against Limerick at Croke Park.^[2]

Current panel

Team as per Waterford vs Cork in the Munster SFC quarter-final, 27 May 2017

No. Player Position Club 1 Stephen Enright Goalkeeper Ballinacourty 2 Brian Looby Right corner back Ballinacourty 3 Thomas O'Gorman Full back The Nire 4 Tadhg Ó hÚallacháin Left corner back An Rinn 5 James McGrath Right half back The Nire 6 Stephen Prendergast Centre back Kilrossanty 7 Ray Ó Ceallaigh Left half back An Rinn 8 Tommy Prendergast Midfield Kilrossanty 9 Michael Curry Midfield Rathgormack 10 Michael O'Halloran Right half forward Ballinacourty 11 Paul Whyte^RET Centre forward Kilrossanty (c) 12 Conor Murray Left half forward Rathgormack 13 Donie Breathnach Right corner forward An Rinn 14 Joey Veale Full forward Kilrossanty 15 Gavin Crotty Left corner forward Dungarvan

No. Player Position Club 16 David Whitty Substitute Gaultier 17 Jason Curry Substitute Rathgormack 18 Stephen Dalton Substitute De La Salle 19 Frank Galvin Substitute Portlaw 20 Dylan Guiry Substitute The Nire 21 Kieran Murphy Substitute St. Saviours 22 Lorcan Ó Corroain Substitute An Rinn 23 Fearghal Ó Cuirrin Substitute An Rinn 24 Aidan Trihy Substitute Clashmore-Kinsalebeg 25 Paul Whelan Substitute Brickey Rangers 26 Pa Whyte Substitute Kilrossanty

^INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
^RET Player has since retired from the county team.
^WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Current management team

• Manager: Ephie Fitzgerald, appointed on a two-year term in October 2021^[3]
• Selectors:

Managerial history

This is a list of people who have managed the Waterford county football team.

Dates	Name	Origin
?–98	Joe Curran	?
1998–99	John Cummins
1999–01	Greg Fives	Abbeyside/Ballinacourty
2001–03	Denis Walsh
2003–04	Billy Harty	?
2004–09	John Kiely	Kilrossanty
2009–12	John Owens
2012–14	Niall Carew
2014–18	Tom McGlinchey
2018–20[4][5]	Benji Whelan	Kilmacthomas
2021[6][7]	Shane Ronayne
2021–23	Ephie Fitzgerald
2024	Paul Shankey

Players

Notable players

For individual player details, see Category:Waterford inter-county Gaelic footballers.

Records

• Goalkeeper Darren Mulhearne made his championship debut at the age of 46 in 2019.^[8][9][10]

All Stars

Waterford has no All Stars.^[11]

Honours

National

• All-Ireland Junior Football Championship
  • Winners (2): 1999, 2004

Provincial

• Munster Senior Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 1898
  • Runners-up (9): 1891, 1896, 1904, 1908, 1911, 1940, 1946, 1957, 1960
• Munster Junior Football Championship
  • Winners (3): 1948, 1999, 2004
• Munster Under-21 Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 2003
• McGrath Cup
  • Winners (2): 1981, 2015

References

1. "Deise dig deep for Wexford Park win". The Munster Express. 25 May 2021. Michael Curry was dismissed for a second yellow card in the 67th minute, and there was also a black card for Elsted late on as the Déise were asked to hold out with 13... Tom Byrne threatened the lead, but it was too little too late – as Waterford did the required to hold out for a most welcome victory. Murray was the star of the show with four points, and he even slotted in at centre back when the kitchen sink was thrown in the Déise's face, while every man played their role on a memorable day for Déise football.
2. "Liam Ó Lionain Goal Waterford V Limerick Croke Park 2010". TG4.
3. "Ephie Fitzgerald announced as new Waterford senior football manager". RTÉ. 22 October 2021.
4. "New Déise boss Whelan open to secondary competition". Irish Examiner. 28 September 2018.
5. "Benji Whelan admits lure of hurling hinders Déise football". RTÉ. 12 November 2020.
6. "Shane Ronayne takes Waterford football reins". RTÉ. 11 January 2021.
7. "Shane Ronayne steps down as Waterford senior football manager". RTÉ. 24 September 2021.
8. Roche, Cian (1 May 2019). "'A dream come true': 46-year-old keeper in line to make Championship debut for Waterford". The42.ie.
9. "Waterford hand 46-year-old keeper Mulhearne first start". RTÉ. 10 May 2019.
10. Rooney, Declan (14 May 2019). "'I might become professional' — The story of the unemployed 46-year-old debutant Waterford goalkeeper". Irish Independent.
11. Breheny, Martin (2 November 2016). "All-Star path needs new direction". Irish Independent. Longford, Carlow, Limerick, Waterford and, of course, Kilkenny have never won a football All-Star award.