The Waterford county football team represents

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 ...

in men's

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 ...

and is governed by

Waterford GAA The Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Phort Láirge) or Waterford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for all levels of Gaelic games in C ...

, the

county board A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States. Related forms of county government include: * Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states * County commission, ...

of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

, the

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Waterford's home ground is

Fraher Field Fraher Field ( ga, Páirc Uí Fhearachair) is a GAA stadium, located in Dungarvan, County Waterford, owned by the Waterford GAA County Board. It has a total capacity of around 15,000. History Dan Fraher (1852–1929), an Irish language activist ...

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 ...

and

Walsh Park Walsh Park ( ga, Páirc Breathnach) is a GAA stadium in Waterford, Ireland named after Willie Walsh, a well-known referee and long time campaigner for Gaelic games in Waterford. It is one of the two homes of the Waterford Gaelic football and hu ...

. The team's manager is

Ephie Fitzgerald Ephraim "Ephie" Fitzgerald (born 1961) is an Irish people, Irish Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager who played as a right corner-forward at senior level for the Cork county football team, Cork county team. He has been manager of th ...

. 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 Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

by a scoreline of 2–08 to 0–04. Erin's Hope of

represented the county in that game. In recent times, the team have twice won the

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a GAA competition involving four Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams. Prior to a change in competition structure in 2021, the competition was previously for all Junior Gaelic football inte ...

(JFC). In 2003, Waterford unexpectedly won a

Munster Under-21 Football Championship The Munster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest ...

, defeating

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

in the final. Waterford has not reached a

(SFC) final since 1960, has not defeated

since 1957,

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 ...

since 1960,

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 ...

since 1981 and

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

since 1988. On 20 May 2007, the team broke a 19-year run without a senior championship win by defeating

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

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 Gary Hurney (born 1980) is an Irish people, Irish dual player of hurling and Gaelic football who formerly played for the Waterford GAA, Waterford senior team in both codes. Hurney made his first appearance for the Waterford football team durin ...

, Ger Power; Wayne Hennessy, Andy Hubbord and Liam O'Lonain. The team defeated Clare again in 2010. ;League promotion In 2010, after going so close to promotion in previous years Waterford went unbeaten in the league (defeating Leitrim,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

, Limerick, Clare and

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

and securing draws against

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

), but fell short in the final against Limerick at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

Current panel

( c) ^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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, appointed on a two-year term in October 2021 *

Selector Selector may refer to: *Selector, electrical or mechanical component, a switch *''Selector'', music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services *Selector, of music, otherwise known as a disc jockey *Selector, a pers ...

Managerial history

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

Players

Notable players

Records

*Goalkeeper

Darren Mulhearne Darren Mulhearne (born 1973) is a Gaelic football goalkeeper who plays for Kilrossanty. He is noted for making his championship debut for Waterford against Clare in the 2019 Munster Senior Football Championship quarter-final at the age of 46, b ...

made his championship debut at the age of 46 in 2019.

All Stars

Waterford has no All Stars.

Honours

National

** Runners-up (1):

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

** Winners (2): 1999, 2004 *

**''None'' *

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

**''None'' *

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

**''None''

Provincial

** Winners (1): 1898 ** Runners-up (9): 1891, 1896, 1904, 1908, 1911, 1940, 1946, 1957, 1960 *

Munster Junior Football Championship The Munster Junior Football Championship is a gaelic football tournament between the six counties of Munster: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford. It is the third-tier county teams playing off in a single-elimination tournament w ...

** Winners (3): 1948, 1999, 2004 *

** Winners (1): 2003 *

Munster Minor Football Championship The Munster Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18) in the province of Munster in Ireland. It is ...

**''None'' *

McGrath Cup The McGrath Cup is a Gaelic football competition played each January in 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 o ...

** Winners (2): 1981, 2015

References

{{GAA National Leagues County football teams