FAI Cup final: Who to look out for in clash between Waterford and Derry City?
Waterford FC Founded in 1930, Waterford ’s glory days came between 1966 and 1973 when they captured six League of Ireland titles and lost two FAI Cup finals. After changing their name to Waterford United in 1982, the club subsequently underwent a corporate restructuring in 2016, when former owner Lee Power established a new company, Power Grade Ltd, to operate it. Waterford FC entered the First Division in 2017, but Uefa treated the club as a separate legal entity, denying them a place in the 2019/20 Europa League as they had not existed long enough under the governing body’s three-year rule. FAI Cup history: Two-time winners. In 1937, they beat St James’ Gate 2-1 in the final and in 1980, Brian Gardiner’s bullet header at Dalymount Park was enough to see off St Patrick’s Athletic. They have lost seven finals, most recently to Longford Town in 2004 in front of a crowd of just 9,676 at Lansdowne Road. Current ownership structure: Andy Pilley and his Fleetwood Town multi-club model took control of Waterford in August 2022. However, in July 2023, Pilley was sentenced to 13 years in prison for a multi-million-pound energy-sales fraud. By May 2024, Pilley’s son Jamie had taken control at Waterford and Fleetwood Town, although their Dubai-based club Fleetwood United was sold. Before the takeover of Fleetwood Town, the English Football League handed Jamie Pilley a three-month suspended ban from acting as a club director due to the “circumstances surrounding the events leading to his takeover”. Star man: Tommy Lonergan. The Republic of Ireland under-21 striker is having a sensational season, scoring 18 goals for Waterford in all competitions and four in his last three under-21 appearances, including a brace to defeat England last month at Turners Cross . Lonergan also scored St Pat’s third goal in their 2023 cup final win over Bohemians before he swapped Inchicore for Fleetwood. Honourable mentions go to Pádraig Amond, the 38-year-old who has also amassed 18 goals, and Benny Couto, the Portuguese left back who has supplied 17 assists. Season in review: Finished seventh, three points clear of a relegation playoff. Winless in the opening 13 fixtures and bottom of the table, Graham Coughlan replaced Jon Daly as manager in May, sparking a 10-match unbeaten run that saw them punch holes in the title aspirations of Bohemians and St Pat’s. In the cup semi-final at Dalymount Park last month, Waterford absorbed Bohs’ pressure before goals from Noah Mawene – an English midfielder on loan from Fleetwood – and Lonergan secured a famous 2-0 result . Derry City Founded in 1928, the Candystripes withdrew from the Irish League in 1972. After 12 seasons in junior football, they joined the League of Ireland First Division in 1985. Crowed Premier Division champions in their treble season of 1988/89, and again in 1996/97. In the 2020s, they finished second in the league behind Shamrock Rovers on three occasions. FAI Cup history: Six-time winners and six-time runners-up. Their most recent success was in 2022 when they trounced Damien Duff’s Shelbourne 4-0 . Their last trip to the Aviva Stadium, in 2024, ended in disappointment when Drogheda United beat them 2-0. Current ownership structure: Local billionaire Philip O’Doherty has invested in Derry City since the 1990s, officially becoming the driving force at the Brandywell when he replaced Pat McDaid as chairman in 2009. By 2016, he had a 75-per-cent stake in the club. O’Doherty’s $1.8 billion (€1.6 billion) sale of E&I Engineering to US company Vertiv in 2021 has allowed him to retire and put more time into his football team. Following the departure of chief executive Sean Barrett last year, O’Doherty took a more active role, describing himself as the “executive chairman” while publicly backing manager Tiernan Lynch to deliver the title in 2026. “Sometimes I don’t understand it, because I’m not a football person,” he said in January. “I’ve total confidence in Tiernan ... I let him run the club.” The recently retired former Derry City captain Mark Connolly was appointed director of football in June. By August, Connolly had replaced Lynch as interim manager following an abysmal start to the season that coincided with an ugly dispute between the club hierarchy and returning hero James McClean . On October 28th, the club and McClean announced a “mutual agreement” to terminate the player’s contract. O’Doherty stated: “Neither the club nor James McClean will be making any further comment on this matter.” Star man: Michael Duffy. The captain is so important attacking off the left that Lynch made a failed attempt to transform McClean into a central midfielder. Duffy is one assist shy of hitting double figures in goals and assists for three straight seasons. He sent Derry back to the Aviva with two goals away to Galway United in the semi-final . Season in review: The campaign started with a trophy. In the President’s Cup at Tallaght Stadium in January, McClean drifted wide left, beat his man and put a dangerous ball into the Shamrock Rovers box that Darragh Markey struck first time. Derry won 1-0, heading home with a squad full of attacking talent and an eye fixed on challenging Stephen Bradley’s side for the title. By the time they were knocked out of Europe in July, losing four straight games to CSKA Sofia and Rijeka, McClean had used his role as a World Cup pundit on RTÉ to criticise the club hierarchy. By then, Derry were 21 points behind Rovers and 14 points adrift of qualifying for Europe by finishing third in the Premier Division. Connolly took over in early August, securing a fifth-place finish with eight wins and only two defeats from 13 matches. The winner on Sunday will enter next season’s Europa League qualifiers.