Waterford meet Cork City tonight in Tallaght in a play-off with huge stakes that will see the winner attain Premier Division status for the 2024 season. For Waterford, LOI play-offs have only meant heartbreak.
Playoffs were introduced by the League of Ireland ahead of the 1992-93 season to decide the final available place in the following year’s Premier Division. With two teams automatically relegated from the Premier Division, and two teams automatically replacing them from the First Division, a two-legged tie would take place between the teams who finished 10th in the top tier and 3rd in the second tier. Waterford United were involved in the first play-off and they’ve been involved in more than any other club since. Let’s look at their long and torturous history in the high stakes, end of season big games.
1992-93 - Defeat to Monaghan United
1992-93 was an odd season for football here, even by LOI standards. The top 6 and bottom 6 split into separate halves after 22 games. Limerick FC and St Patrick’s Athletic were level on points at the split but goal difference put Limerick into the top 6. 3 clubs ended up level on points in the top 6, but goal difference wasn’t allowed to decide the champions. Cork City, the club with the worst goal difference of the three, would end up as Champions after a marathon play-off series.
What has this to do the play-offs? Well, goal difference was allowed separate teams at the bottom. After a storming finish to the season (2 wins, 2 draws in their last 4), Waterford United overhauled Sligo Rovers by a point and drew level with Drogheda United. Sligo were relegated but Drogheda avoided the play-offs ahead of the Blues on goal difference. Waterford drew the home leg 2-2 before being thumped 3-0 away by Monaghan United becoming the first team to be relegated from the LOI Premier Division through the play-offs.
1996-97 - Defeat to Dundalk
After finishing 3rd in the First Division, Waterford United travelled to Oriel Park with high hopes but Dundalk quickly extinguished them with a comfortable 3-0 win in the first leg. While Waterford won the second leg 1-0, it was far too little, too late and Tommy Lynch’s boys remained in the second tier for another year.
1999-2000 - Defeat to Kilkenny City
For the third time in just eight play-off ties, Waterford United were back in action in 2000 after finishing 10th in the Premier Division. 7 points for Galway United in their last three games was enough to see them leapfrog Waterford with morale low ahead of their two-legged clash with Kilkenny City. The Blues lost both legs 0-1 and manager Mike Flanagan was sacked immediately after their relegation was confirmed.
2006 - Defeat to Dundalk
If 1993-94 was odd, 2006 is the poster child for LOI admin issues. It started in March when John Delaney announced that an Independent Assessment Group (IAG) would decide which clubs would play in the 2007 Premier Division of the newly merged FAI/LOI. On field performance over the preceding years and off field criteria including infrastructure, marketing and more would be included. It continued mid-season when Dublin City pulled out leaving only 11 teams in the Premier Division. Waterford United ended the season in bottom/eleventh and entered the play off.
Waterford, once again, lost the play off to Dundalk. A 1-1 draw in Oriel Park was followed by a 1-2 defeat in the RSC. When the Premier Division clubs were announced 2 weeks later, neither Dundalk nor Waterford were included. Galway United, who finished third in the FD, leapfrogged them both based, in part, on a DVD set to Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now” extolling the virtues of the western club.
All of this being played out while Shelbourne’s financial struggles emerged on their way to the 2006 League title. After initially passing the financial stress test as part of the IAG assessment, Shelbourne eventually were denied access to the 2007 Premier Division (and the UEFA Champions League) as their debts finally caught up with them. Waterford, who finished 13th in the rankings, got the final spot ahead of Dundalk. A play off loss, but Premier Division survival!
2007 - Defeat to Finn Harps
Premier Division survival for a year anyway. A more straightforward season for the league in 2007 with Waterford United finishing in the play off spot of 11th and entering the play offs. After Finn Harps beat Dundalk in a semi-final, they beat Waterford 3-0 in the first leg of the final meaning, again, Waterford had a dead rubber at home in the second leg which they drew 3-3. At this stage, only 6 teams lost the PD/FD play off game and Waterford had done it four times.
23 November 2007; Finn Harps players celebrate promotion to the eircom League of Ireland Premier Division after the final whistle. eircom League of Ireland Promotion / Relegation play-off, second leg, Waterford United v Finn Harps. RSC, Waterford. Picture credit; Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
2010 - Defeat to Monaghan United
Waterford United finished second in the 2010 First Division. The play-offs had been expanded the previous year to incorporate semi finals between teams in both divisions. True to form, Waterford lost at home to 3rd placed Monaghan United at home (1-3) to ensure another year in the second tier. Waterford had finished 4 points ahead of Monaghan but in the end neither side were promoted.
2012 - Defeat to Dundalk
Another second placed finish, another play off semi-final. There was success in the first round for Paul O’Brien’s Blues as they beat Longford Town 2-0 away before a 1-1 draw in the RSC secured their play off final spot. This historic first win was not, however, followed up with another as for the third team, they lost to Dundalk.
Waterford, with a young Sean Maguire up front, drew 2-2 with Dundalk in Oriel Park in a game they should have won by a comfortable margin. They’d regret all the missed chances too, as they lost the second leg 0-2 in the RSC to stay in the bottom tier. Two years later, Dundalk were Champions of Ireland and on the way to dominating Irish football for nearly a decade.
2 November 2012; Michael Rafter, Dundalk, celebrates with team-mate Chris Shields, right, after the final whistle. Airtricity League Promotion / Relegation Play-Off Final, 2nd Leg, Waterford United v Dundalk, RSC, Waterford. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
2021 - Defeat to UCD
Waterford, now without the United suffix, won the First Division in 2017 and embarked on a relatively stable Premier Division run over the next couple of years. That stability was shattered in 2021 as the Blues kicked off the season with Lee Power as owner and Kevin Sheedy as manager and ended the season with Englishman Richard Forrest as owner and his friend Marc Bircham as manager. Bircham’s appointment sparked a mini=revival early on but he couldn’t drag Waterford out of 9th and the play-off spot
3 days before the play off final, Bircham announced he had been suspended, with the club confirming it was a sacking shortly after. Bircham claimed it was because he wouldn’t play the owner’s son and was cheered by Waterford fans when he turned up to the play off as a supporter.
26 November 2021; Former Waterford manager Marc Bircham during the SSE Airtricity League Promotion / Relegation Play-off Final between UCD and Waterford at Richmond Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Bircham’s successor Ian Hendon picked the team for the one-off play off final against UCD (3rd in the First Division) and despite taking an early lead through journeyman Anthony Wordsworth, Waterford lost 2-1 in Inchicore and were relegated once again. There has been a total of 12 relegations through the play-offs and 4 of them have been suffered by Waterford.
2022 - Defeat to UCD
Despite the turmoil in 2021, Waterford were many pundits’ pick for the First Division title in 2022 with star forwards Junior Quitirna and Phoenix Patterson attracting the attention of the clubs in the UK. Another takeover in mid-season, this time by Andy Pilley and the group behind Fleetwood Town, and another play-off place at the end of the season ensued though. The Blues couldn’t keep pace with Colin Healy’s Cork City side.
A 4-1 win away to Treaty United in the semi final first leg should have settled nerves, but Treaty went 3-1 up in the RSC to get everybody in Waterford back on edge. Second half goals from Wassim Aouachria and Patterson made it 3-3 on the night and they were into the First Division final. They beat Galway United 3-0 in Markets Field in Limerick to set up another final against UCD in Inchicore.
Danny Searle, their 3rd manager of the season, seemed to get his early tactics wrong and his side trailed UCD by a goal until the 94th minute when a controversial penalty award gave Waterford the chance to level on the night. Junior Quitirna stepped up, but his shot flew high and over the bar and, seconds later, the final whistle condemned them to another season in the First Division.
2023 - ???
Galway United flew into an early season lead in the 2023 First Division and Waterford never really got close despite Ronan Coughlan scoring over 30 times. The Blues sacked Searle after 5 games of the campaign and his replacement Keith Long guided them to second in the table, 10 points ahead of the chasing pack.
In the opening round of the play-offs, Waterford were made to work for progression by Athlone Town with a 1-1 draw in Athlone followed by a 3-1 win in the RSC. The clinching goal coming deep in injury time and completing a hat trick for 17-year-old Romeo Akachukwu.
The second round, the First Division final, saw Waterford huff and puff their way past Cobh Ramblers in Turners Cross. An early second half goal from Coughlan looked to have them on their way only for Matt McKevitt’s dramatic late overhead goal to send the game into injury time. Waterford’s American centre half Giles Phillips scored the winner in extra time to leave the Blues, once more, one win away from promotion.
This Friday they’ll face Munster rivals Cork City in Tallaght Stadium for a place in the 2024 Premier Division. For the first time in a decade, Waterford aren’t favourites to win. Maybe, that will help them with City under pressure to survive after a lacklustre first season back in the Premier. This will be their first ever appearance in the relegation/promotion play-offs.
Before this season, Waterford have entered the pla- offs as a Premier Division club five times and have lost each time. They’ve entered the play-offs as a First Division club four times, and they’ve lost each time. Tenth time the charm for 2023?
