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Waterford Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the club was based at the greyhound stadium known as Kilcohan Park, but moved to the Waterford Regional Sports Centre in the 1993-94 season. In 2018 the club and its players became fully professional. History Early years Waterford first participated in the league in the 1930–31 season finishing ninth and again from 1931–32 before dropping out of the league for two seasons. Waterford re-entered the league in the 1935–36 season along with Sligo Rovers. Waterford won the Shield in their first season. Waterford won the FAI cup for the first time in their history in 1937 beating St. James Gate and also won the Shield. The club were league runners up in 1937–38 season and again in the 1940–41 season. Both Waterford and League winners Cork United finished on equal points but Cork were awarded the title as Waterford were unable to compete in the play-off due to a dispute regarding payment to players. At the end of the campaign, the original Waterford resigned from the League of Ireland, only for a new entity, with the same name, to be elected in, for 1944–45 season. Waterford won the Shield again in the 1952–53 season and were again runners-up in the League this time to St. Patrick's Athletic in the 1954–55 season and again in the 1962–63 season. The club eventually won the league title for the first time in the 1965–66 season, (under manager Paddy Coad) setting a then league record of 13 straight league victories. The 1965/66 title was the beginning of a hugely successful spell for the club domestically. The following season they played in the preliminary round of the Champions cup against Vorwärts Berlin, an East German and Army side, losing 6–1 at Dalymount Park and 6–0 in East Berlin. They won the Shield once again in 1968–69 season. Waterford won the league title three times in a row, in 1968,1969 and in 1970. The title was won by Cork Hibernians in 1971 but returned to Waterford in the 1971–1972 season and again in the 1972–73 season. The following season Waterford won the League of Ireland Cup, however failed to regain the league title. The Club won the FAI Cup for the second time under Tommy Jackson in 1980 beating St Patrick's Athletic with the winner from Brian Gardner. Waterford's success in the league over the years brought European football where they played against famous clubs such as Manchester United and Celtic. Bobby Charlton had a brief spell at the club in 1976, playing three times and scoring one goal. Early 1980s to Mid-2010s In May 1982, the club changed its name to Waterford United. Alfie Hale was appointed manager. In 1985 the league's membership rose to 22 clubs with the election of six new clubs in 1985. This resulted in the introduction of the present two-Division (Premier and First) structure in 1985/86 of which Waterford was a member of the Premier Division. Waterford were relegated to the First Division in the 1988–89 season. Their stay there was short, gaining promotion and winning the First Division title the following season 1989–90. They were unable to retain their Premier Division status the following season finishing in eleventh. The club was promoted to the top flight in the 1991–92 season finishing as runners up to Limerick. But again the club were unable to remain in the Premier Division for more than a single season suffering relegation on goal difference to Drogheda United. Waterford United were promoted to the Premier Division, finishing top of the First Division in the 1997–98 season and remained there until the 1999–00 season suffering relegation in the playoffs to Kilkenny City. Jimmy McGeough was appointed manager in 2002. In his first season he led the club to promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division in the 2002–03 season. The League of Ireland changed from a winter league to a summer league for the 2003 season. Waterford finished 6th under Jimmy McGeough. Despite the good season he was controversially sacked, the decision was very unpopular with the club's supporters. In 2004, The Blues finished 5th and they reached the FAI Cup Final, their first since 1986 under Alan Reynolds as player-manager and Paul McGrath as director of football but lost 2–1 to Longford Town. In 2006, Waterford United were relegated to the First Division. The FAI took over the running of the League of Ireland at the end of the 2006 season. Part of this takeover involved the assessment of all League of Ireland sides and the manner in which they were being run including finances, infrastructure, future plans, marketability and previous finishing positions since the 2002 season, (this was due to Kildare County only joining the Eircom League in 2002). Despite finishing in 11th and last place ( Dublin City being the 12th team in the league and subsequently folding during the season) the club were forced to play a relegation/promotion playoff against Dundalk. Despite being defeated Waterford United still stood a chance of remaining a Premier Division side due to the FAI assessment. However, on 8 December 2006 the FAI decided to relegate Waterford to the 1st Division with Shamrock Rovers and Galway United replacing them and the now defunct Dublin City. Dundalk, despite beating Waterford in a playoff, were controversially overlooked and remained in the First Division. However, on 20 February 2007 it was announced that Waterford United had been invited to participate in the Premier Division for the forthcoming season. Club secretary Larry Gough stated "The club considered the proposal carefully and decided to accept the invitation in the best interests of football in Waterford and the eircom league". However, The "Blues" were relegated that season via the play-offs losing 6–3 on aggregate to Finn Harps. After the club's relegation, Waterford went into the 2008 season knowing that only one team from the First Division would be promoted as the FAI planned to revamp the league. A valiant effort from Cronin's Blues saw them come so close yet so far as the "Blues" fell away towards the business end of the season leaving Dundalk and Shelbourne to compete for promotion on the final day of the season. In 2009, former Bohemians player, Stephen Henderson took over as boss at the club and in his first season, the Blues narrowly missed out yet again for the playoffs and reached the EA Sports Cup Final where they were defeated 3–1 by Bohemians and the FAI Cup semi-finals. The club also finished in 4th in the League, missing out on the playoffs. Henderson signed a one-year extension to his contract for the 2010 season. His side finished in 2nd place just three points off champions Derry City. His side came up against Monaghan United in the playoffs but were defeated 3–1 in the RSC. In May.... Discover the Seanie Blue popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Seanie Blue books.