Joseph Waters (born 20 September 1953) is an Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in England and the United States. He lives in the United States where he coaches Tacoma Stars of PASL and youth soccer teams.

Player

Club

Waters grew up in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Ireland where he was an outstanding athlete with the Limerick Athletic Club. He played

gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

with the

Old Christians GAA Club Old Christians GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) was formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1962 for the development of the games of Hurling and Gaelic Football in the southern part of the city. Since then the club has gone on to develop many league and ...

and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with

CBS Sexton Street CBS Sexton Street is a Christian Brothers secondary school located in Limerick, Ireland. The school has approximately 500 students. The current principal is Denis O'Connor, and the current vice principal is Elaine O'Connell. History Colaiste ...

. He began his soccer career with th
Wembley Rovers
and briefly played for Pike Rovers before returning to Wembley. In April 1969, he joined

Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home mat ...

In December 1973, he signed a professional contract with Leicester City, but had difficulty cracking the first team. However, he has a place in Foxes folklore for his two-goal debut in a FA Cup quarter final win against

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

at Loftus Road in 1974. In 1976, he went on loan to fourth division

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, and had immediate success with the team, leading Grimsby Town to raise the possibility of a transfer. The price of £10,000 was too high for the team, so fans contributed £2,000. Waters had an extensive career with Grimsby Town until 1984. He also scored five goals in twenty

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

games for the Mariners. In 1984, he moved to the United States and joined the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League, bringing a change of position to defender and a rejuvenation of his career. In 1987 he led the Stars to the MISL finals for the first time in the team's history. He also played with the

Calgary Kickers The Calgary Strikers (formerly the Calgary Kickers) were a Canadian soccer team in Calgary, Alberta that competed in the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1989. They were founded as the Calgary Kickers for the 1987 and 1988 seasons, winning the ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

in 1988 and 1989. He retired in 1992.

International

Waters played for the Republic of Ireland U15 and U-18 teams. On 13 October 1976, he made his international debut for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

in a friendly match against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. He scored the equaliser ten minutes from time in the 3-3 draw. His other full international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

came three years later when he replaced

Gerry Daly Gerard Anthony Daly (born 30 April 1954) is an Irish former footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester United, Derby County, Coventry City, Leicester City F.C., Leicester City, Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City, Shrewsbur ...

as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland on 21 November 1979 in Belfast.

Coach

During his last few seasons with the Tacoma Stars, Waters served as an assistant coach. In 1992, he became the head coach of the

Bellarmine Preparatory School Bellarmine Preparatory School is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational high school run by the USA West Province of the Society of Jesus in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is located in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Today it serves just ...

boys' soccer team, and took the team to the 2004 and 2008 state championships. In 1994,

Gig Harbor High School Gig Harbor High School is a public high school in the Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Washington. The school opened in September 1979. The school enrolls 1611 students (2017) in ninth through twelfth grades. Facility history and remode ...

hired him to coach their girls' soccer team. In 1998 he was hired as head coach of the

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

men's soccer team and compiled a 25-39-6 record during his four years there. In 2003, he became the Bellarmine Prep School girls' soccer coach, in addition to his duties with the boys' team, taking the girls to the 2004 state championship. On 12 September 2012, Waters was hired as head coach of the Tacoma Stars of the

Professional Arena Soccer League A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

External links

*
Article from Grimsby Town Supporters Trust

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Joe 1953 births Living people Expatriate men's footballers in England Grimsby Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Tacoma Stars players Association footballers from County Limerick Major Arena Soccer League coaches Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland association football managers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association football managers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football defenders Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Calgary Kickers players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States