The Waterford county hurling team represents Waterford in hurling and is governed by Waterford GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and the National Hurling League.
Waterford's home grounds are Walsh Park, Waterford, and Fraher Field, Dungarvan. The team's manager is Peter Queally.
The team last won the Munster Senior Championship in 2010, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1959 and the National League in 2022.
The team is nicknamed the Déise men.
History
1886–1935: Early days The Waterford County Board was established in 1886 in Kilmacthomas and played in the Munster Championship for the first time in 1888, losing to Cork on a score of 2–8 to 0-0. The next fourteen years would consist of walkovers, first round defeats and not entering the competition at all. Waterford would finally win a championship match for the first time in 1903, defeating Kerry by 5–6 to 2–9. In their first Munster final, which did not take place until 1904, Waterford would lose to Cork. The following years led to another series of opening Munster championship match defeats and the occasional walkover, and Waterford would not win another senior championship match until 1925 when Clare were defeated, only for Tipperary to beat them in only their second Munster final. Despite its present reputation as a hurling stronghold, football was initially the preferred Gaelic sport in Waterford: the county was one of only nine to compete in the inaugural All-Ireland football championship in 1887.
At this stage, Waterford was still the only county in Munster not to have won the provincial or All-Ireland hurling title, but there were signs of improvement. The minor hurlers reached the first ever Munster final in 1928, losing to Cork. They would make up for this defeat the following year against Tipperary and would defeat Meath in the All-Ireland final. The junior hurlers secured the county's first ever adult silverware in 1931, winning both the Munster and All-Ireland titles. They would repeat this feat in 1934.
At senior level, the county was edging ever closer to Munster success, with the 1931 team drawing with Cork in the final only to lose the replay by 15 points. A fifth Munster final appearance ended when the match against Limerick was abandoned due to crowd encroachment late on with Limerick leading by 11 points. The title was awarded to Limerick, who would defeat Waterford again in the 1934 decider.
1936–1963: Ascendancy The junior hurlers won the county's third Munster and All-Ireland double at that level in 1936, and the senior hurlers, after those near misses at the start of the decade, were ready to secure the Munster title. An 11-point win over Cork in the 1938 Munster semi-final saw Waterford into their seventh Munster final, where they defeated Clare by 3–5 to 2–5. They reached the county's first ever All-Ireland final after an easy win over Galway, where they went down to Dublin in Croke Park by 2-5 (11) to 1-6 (9). The following year, Waterford played in their first National Hurling League final, losing to Dublin by 1-8 (11) to 1-4 (7).
If Limerick had proven to be Waterford's nemesis in the 1930s, defeating Waterford again in 1940 on their way to another All-Ireland, the 1940s belonged to Cork who would win the All-Ireland four years running from 1941 to 1944 and again in 1946, defeating Waterford in 1943, 1946 and 1947.
By 1948 though, Waterford's time had finally come. Defeating Clare by two points in the Munster semi-final, the margin was even narrower in the Munster final against Cork, Waterford prevailing by a score of 4-7 (19) to 3-9 (18). Galway were overcome in the All-Ireland semi-final, and Dublin – containing RTÉ broadcaster Seán Óg Ó Ceallacháin in the half-forward line – were well beaten, on a score of 6-7 (25) to 4-2 (14). Waterford had won the Liam MacCarthy Cup at last. To add to the joy of 1948, the Minor team would win the county's second Munster and All-Ireland titles, defeating Tipperary (3-6 to 0–3) and Kilkenny (3-8 to 4–2) respectively.
Limerick relieved Waterford of their titles in the first defence in 1949, defeating them by five points in the Munster semi-final. The early 1950s saw Waterford come up against Tipperary and Cork teams at the peak of their powers, and Waterford would not reach another Munster final until 1957.
By this time, Waterford had the nucleus of a team that would contest hurling's major prizes with Tipperary and Kilkenny for the next six years. A close fought victory over Limerick in the semi-final (4-12 to 5-5) saw Waterford into the Munster final where they defeated a Cork team shorn of Christy Ring due to injury on a score of 1-11 (14) to 1-6 (9). Galway were once again defeated in the semi-final, and Kilkenny waited in the final. The game had a few unusual events. Kilkenny paraded around the pitch with sixteen players as British actor John Gregson was being recorded for his role in the film Rooney. The game saw Amhrán na bhFiann being played at the start of the second half as the referee threw the ball in to start the game before the Artane Boys Band had started the anthem. Waterford led the match 1–6 to 1–5 at half-time and had extended that lead to six points with ten minutes to go, but Kilkenny overtook Waterford with two goals and a point to leave them winners on a score of 4-10 (22) to 3-12 (21).
1958 was the first year Waterford won through to the Munster final having won it the previous year, a win over Kerry setting up the shot at a repeat victory. However, Tipperary were convincing winners on a score of 4-12 (24) to 1-5 (8). Tipperary would also defeat Waterford in the county's second National Hurling League final appearance in 1959 by seven points. Galway were the first opponents in that year's Munster championship, and the Tribesmen were well beaten, 7-11 (32) to 0–8. Tipperary were waiting in the semi-final, where they choose to play against a stiff first-half breeze. Waterford took full advantage of this, scoring 8–2 in the first half without reply, and eventually winning 9-3 (30) to 3-4 (13). The county's fourth Munster title was secured with a three-point win over Cork in Thurles. In the All-Ireland final, Kilkenny would make life difficult for Waterford with a string of goals, and with minutes remaining Waterford found themselves in the incredible position of having outscored Kilkenny by seven yet still being three points behind. But Seamus Power's late goal ensured a draw, 1–17 to 5-5. Waterford did not repeat those mistakes in the replay, securing the county's second All-Ireland title, 3-12 (21) to 1-10 (13).
Tipperary got their revenge in the 1960 Munster semi-final for the remarkable scoreline the previous year, and they continued to make life hard for Waterford in 1961, beating Waterford in that year's League final by 6-6 (24) to 4-9 (21). Cork defeated Waterford in the 1961 Munster championship, and while wins over Clare and Cork saw Waterford into the 1962 final, Tipperary hammered Waterford by 20 points to secure a third successive Munster title. The 1963 League final against Tipperary – the 'Home' final as the winners were due to meet New York for the title proper – was much closer, with Waterford winning an eventful match by 2-15 (21) to 4–7. There was to be no such free-scoring the 1963 Munster final though (reached after a six-point in over Limerick in the semi-final), Waterford edging a tense affair by 0–11 to 0–8, a result that would be Tipperary's only senior championship defeat between 1961 and 1965, effectively denying them a 'five-in-a-row'. In the All-Ireland final, Kilkenny were inspired by a 14-point haul from Eddie Keher to a 4-17 (29) to 6-8 (26) victory. There was some consolation for Waterford in the National Hurling League final 'proper', where after a scare in a drawn first game (3-6 to 3–6) Waterford won the replay against New York by 3-10 (19) to 1-10 (13).
1964–1997: Decline It would not have seemed likely in 1964 that Waterford would not win another senior title for nearly fifty years. The county remained competitive in the mid-1960s, narrowly losing out to Cork in 1964 and only losing to the same opposition in 1965 after a replay. But a young Cork team, containing several of the team that would win that year's Under-21 hurling championship, defeated Waterford in the 1966 Munster final. Despite gaining their revenge in the first round of the 1967 Munster championship, Waterford were beginning to struggle. Defeat followed in the Munster semi-final to Tipperary, and Waterford would not win another championship match until 1974.
1974 was a brighter year for Waterford, as the seniors shocked Cork in the first round of the Munster championship, and were only beaten by one point by defending All-Ireland champions Limerick in the semi-final. John Galvin won the county's first All Star award. The county also secured its first ever victory in the Munster Under-21 championship, defeating Clare by 2-5 (11) to 1-3 (6) in the final. Antrim were well beaten in the semi-final to set up another All-Ireland final against Kilkenny, only to see Kilkenny come out winners by a narrow margin once again, 3-8 (17) to 3-7 (16).
However, 1974 was a brief respite on a downward slide for Waterford hurling. A Cork team about to embark on a three-in-a-row of All-Ireland success hammered Waterford by 22 points in the first round in 1975, and the only county Waterford would beat in the Munster championship over the following six years was Kerry. The only bright spot at senior inter-county level would be Mossy Walsh's All Star award in 1980. Mount Sion would also win the county's first Munster club title, defeating South Liberties of Limerick in the final. James Stephens of Kilkenny would defeat Mount Sion by 3-13 (22) to 3-8 (17) in the All-Ireland final.
1982 was the beginning of one of the blackest periods in Waterford's hurling history. An unbeaten run in the league stage of the National League was ended only after a replay in the semi-final by Kilkenny, and a one-point over defending Munster champions Limerick in the semi-final raised hopes that a 23-year wait for Munster success was about to come to an end. But in their first Munster final appearance since 1966, Waterford were humiliated by Cork, losing by 5-31 (46) to 3-6 (15). There was individual reward in the form of All Star awards for Jim Greene and John Galvin (his second), but the disappointment of that year was compounded in 1983. Having overcome a young Tipperary side seeking their county's first championship win in eight years, Waterford were back in the Munster final only to be crushed by Cork again, 3-22 (31) to 0–12.