Waterford don’t have a very good record in the League Cup competition. The competition got underway in season 1973-74 and Waterford were the first winners, defeating Finn Harps 2-1 in the final which was played in Tolka Park.
The Blues won the cup again in season 1984-85 and again Finn Harps were on the receiving end, and 2-1 was the score once more. Duncan Burns was the captain of that side.
A Waterford side has never appeared in a final apart from those two games. The 1974 decider came the season after Waterford had pipped Finn Harps for the League of Ireland Championship (1972-73) by just one point (42points to 41 points).
The Waterford FC team which played against Finn Harps in Tolka Park lined out with Peter Bryan on goal. He had to play between the posts because Peter Thomas went down with the flu before the game.
Shay Brennan and Maurice Slater (from Clonmel) were the full backs. Al Finucane, Tommy McConville were the central defenders. Tony Macken, Dave Kirby, John O’Neill and Johnny Matthews played vital roles as did Phil Buck and Alfie Hale. A very useful team to say the very least.
A player from Sheffield United, Jimmy House, was with the club at the time. Jimmy married a girl from Ballyduff, Stella Carling, and over 30 years later the couple still reside in the City of Steel. Jimmy will be a guest on the WLRfm ‘Terrace Talk’ programme on Saturday next, November 1st, his birthday. Ah, memories!
