Football in Waterford 'healthy' insists boss Paul Shankey

The Meath native is preparing the Déise for the championship.

Waterford manager Paul Shankey on the line during their match with Longford. Photo: Maurice Hennebry.

In the 74 days from late August to early November when Waterford were scrambling around for a new senior football manager, a conversation took in certain corners about the future presence of the county in both League and Championship.

In the vacuum without a manager and 2024 visible in the distance, the thought was pondered as to whether Waterford might go the same way as Kilkenny and disappear off the inter-county football radar altogether.

“I wouldn’t fear that at all,” says Paul Shankey, the man who brought an end to the 74-day search and the worst-case-scenario conversations taking place while it was ongoing.

“I don’t know where that came from. At club level, it is quite healthy. If Rathgormack or The Nire were playing Castlehaven or Nemo, there’d be very little in it. Club football in the county is very healthy, so I wouldn’t see that as a major issue at all.

“I suppose the big elephant in the room is the finances, the money being spent on teams. That is one of the biggest issues for the GAA generally to address going forward.” 

Locally, Shankey sees no difference in the resources, financial or otherwise, being ploughed into the Waterford hurlers and footballers. Last year’s books might have shown €590,000 spent on the hurlers, compared to €360,000 for the footballers, but the new manager stresses that his players want for nothing.

“With the Charter, we are getting the same training facilities. Everything is the same (as the hurlers),” he continues.

“We probably have to go down to 14–15-year-olds, that they feel they want to be part of a Waterford football development squad. That’s the area we need to attract players, and I think there is always room for a good hurling team and a good football team.” 

Attracting them in is one issue. Holding onto them is clearly another.

From the team put out against Shankey’s native Meath in last season’s Tailteann Cup, he counts only five still around.

Arriving into the job as late as he did meant many of the 2023 panel had made up their mind regarding 2024 before he ever got his feet under the table.

“It was the last (inter-county) appointment and because of a lot of lads going travelling and committing to other things, your first job is rounding up players and getting a squad together. There has been a big turnover of players from last year to this year – 10 or 15, maybe more.” 

With such a revolving door of personnel and such a late start to Shankey’s reign, progress will be hard measured in Year One.

The county last won a championship game in 2018 - a qualifier victory over Wexford - and a Munster championship game in 2010.

It’s not unthinkable that they could shake that 14-year provincial losing streak at home to Tipperary this Sunday. The Premier have themselves an equally busy revolving door. When the pair met in Round 5 of Division 4 at the beginning of last month, matters finished level.

“Historically, the lads don’t have any fear. From a club point of view, they have played the likes of Clonmel Commercials and other various club teams over the years, and they all compete, so there is no fear that way.

“There is a healthy rivalry there and while it’s a rivalry Tipperary might seem to come out on top in by a point or two, historically the teams compete quite well. The championship match is one the group is really looking forward to.” 

Shankey sprinkles the conversation with club references. It is a local scene he knows well, stemming from his involvement from Portlaw. The former Meath footballer explains how he wound up deep in Déise country.

“I went to college in Limerick University and my wife also went there. She’s from Waterford. I tried to get her to move to Meath, but she got as far as Navan. She’s a PE and Maths teacher in Waterford, it just made sense to move down there. Down 20 years now.

“It was actually my wife who said late last year that they had nobody, ‘why don’t you apply for that job.’ Think she was trying to get rid of me. So I reached out to the county board, had a couple of meetings with them. It really was a last-minute decision, it wasn’t something I had looked into for years.

“We don’t have any lofty ambitions or anything like that, because you have no control over it. We’re just trying to get better on every occasion we go out.”