Derek McGrath (born 30 May 1976) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

retired hurler who played as a centre-forward for the

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

senior team. He is a former manager of the Waterford senior team. Born in

, McGrath first played competitive hurling during his schooldays. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Waterford minor team, before later lining out with the under-21 side. He joined the senior panel for the 1996 championship, and was a seldom used player until he left inter-county hurling after the 1998 championship. At club level McGrath is a

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medallist with De La Salle. He also won one

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

medal. In retirement from playing, McGrath became involved in team management and coaching. After guiding De La Salle College to Harty Cup and Croke Cup successes, he managed the De La Salle club to championship success before taking over as Waterford manager.

Playing career

Club

In 2008 McGrath was a member of the extended panel of the De La Salle team that reached the county championship decider. He was introduced as a substitute in the final, as De La Salle claimed a 3-13 to 1-11 defeat of

Ballygunner Ballygunner ( ga, Baile Gunnair), is a civil parish in County Waterford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the southern outskirts of Waterford city. The placename is derived, in part, from the Old Norse masculine personal name ''Gunnarr' ...

. It was his first

medal. McGrath later added a

medal to his collection following a 0-9 to 0-8 defeat of Thurles Sarsfield's.

Inter-County

McGrath first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Waterford minor hurling team in 1992. He won a

medal that year following an exciting two-game saga with provincial kingpins

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. Waterford later qualified for the All-Ireland final, however,

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

were far superior on the day and had an easy 1–13 to 2–4 victory. A three-year spell with the Waterford minor team, was followed by an unsuccessful few years with the under-21 side. McGrath joined the Waterford senior hurling team in 1996 and lined out in a number of

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

games and one championship game until he left the panel after 1998.

Managerial career

De La Salle College

McGrath first enjoyed success as coach of the De La Salle College team. In 2007 he guided them to a very first Harty Cup crown following a 2-7 to 0-11 defeat of kingpins

St. Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was entere ...

. What was more remarkable about the victory was that Stephen Power scored De La Salle's entire tally. McGrath's side later claimed the

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

following a narrow 0-13 to 1-9 victory over Kilkenny CBS. In 2008 McGrath was in charge of the De La Salle College side that set out to defend their provincial and All-Ireland crowns. A 1-11 to 0-7 trouncing of Thurles CBS gave De La Salle College a second successive Harty Cup title. Both sides met again in the subsequent All-Ireland decider, however, a draw was the result on that occasion. The replay was also a close affair with McGrath's De La Salle College claiming a narrow 2-9 to 2-8 victory.

De La Salle

As his club career was coming to an end, McGrath took charge of the De La Salle senior hurling team. 2012 proved a successful year as De La Salle trounced

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

by 1-21 to 0-12 in the championship decider.

Waterford

On 23 October 2013, McGrath was appointed manager of the Waterford senior hurling team. On 3 May 2015, Waterford won their first

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title since 2007 after a 1-24 to 0-17 win against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the final after an unbeaten campaign. On 7 June 2015, Waterford again defeated Cork by 3-19 to 1-21 in the semi-final of the 2015 Munster Championship. In the 2015 Munster Final, Waterford lost to

on a 0-16 to 0-21 scoreline. Waterford went on to defeat

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in the quarter-final of the All-Ireland Championship by 2-21 to 1-19, before losing in the semi-final to

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

on 9 August by 0-18 to 1-21. In September 2015, McGrath was given a three-year extension as Waterford manager. In August 2017, Waterford qualified for the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final after a 4-19 to 0-20 win against

. In the final on 3 September,

won by 0-26 to 2-17. In November 2017, McGrath confirmed that he would remain in charge for

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. In June 2018, McGrath announced that he would be stepping down as manager of the Waterford team.

Career statistics

As a manager

Honours

Player

;De La Salle *

Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1964 f ...

(1):

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Waterford Senior Hurling Championship The Waterford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 18 ...

(1): 2010 ;Waterford *

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

(1): 1992

Manager

;De La Salle College * All-Ireland Senior Colleges' Hurling Championship (2): 2007, 2008 * Dr. Harty Cup (2): 2007, 2008 ;De La Salle *

(1): 2012 ;Waterford *

(1):

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Personal life

Derek McGrath is married to Sarah (sister of Waterford Hurler John Mullane), they have two sons Fionn (15) and Oran(6) Derek is a secondary school teacher in De la Salle as well as being their hurling manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Derek 1976 births Living people De La Salle hurlers Hurling managers Irish schoolteachers Waterford inter-county hurlers