Blues legend Hale hails Waterford's new-found confidence

Over a long career as player and manager Alfie Hale certainly gave the sport he loved enormous service.

To play competitively across four decades, to represent your country and to manage at a number of clubs bears testament to his legacy.

A household name when League of Ireland history is chronicled and a proud son of Waterford city

Hale stands alongside Paddy Coad, Davy Walsh, the adopted Peter Thomas, Jim Beglin and John O'Shea as stalwarts of the game from the south-east region.

Age is but a number and at 87 there is lot to look back on for a man who scored goals for fun. But life's wheel keeps turning nevertheless and Hale's thoughts are now fixed on his beloved Blues taking their place in the Club Orange FAI Cup final.

All roads lead to Aviva Stadium for a date with Derry City on Sunday and the chance to end a 46-year wait since the famous trophy last resided by the banks of the Suir.

On 20 April 1980, 18,000 souls, some say there were more, were present at Dalymount Park to see Brian Gardner score the only goal of the game as Waterford edged St Patrick's Athletic.

In the crowd was one Alfie Hale, along with his wife and children. The spiritual home of Irish football was a stop-off enroute before a Spanish holiday.

There were jubilant scenes afterwards amid a sea of blue. The Waterford directors sought out Hale, ushering him towards the dressing room, wanting one of their greats to share in the celebrations. They were met with some reluctance. A principled stance in the view of Hale, who at the time was not involved with Waterford.

Recalling that day, he told RTÉ Sport: "I was approached by two directors from Waterford FC (then Waterford United) and was muscled to go into the dressing room and celebrate with the lads. I didn't want to, I felt this was their time. My time was over and I did not want to be seen to be jumping on the bandwagon.

"The directors insisted and they literally carried me into the dressing room. When I got there all my fears came true, I was ignored by a few of the players.

"Brian Gardner hugged me and he wanted a photograph of me but there was I in the middle of it all and I felt I shouldn't have been there. I had left the Blues at the stage. I didn't want to be seen to be hugging publicity or to be part of it."

A recollection that gives you a sense of the man. He had given Waterford so much prior to that game and would again afterwards. But when not directly involved, Hale's mantra was to keep his distance. The conversation would eventually pivot back to that day in Dalymount and why he felt he was gatecrashing the party.

From the Ard Na Greine district in Waterford city, Hale's family was steeped in football. His father, Alfie Snr, his three uncles and brother, all lined out for the Blues. Nearby stands Walsh Park, with Hale proud to boast that "ten of the Waterford hurling team that won the '59 All-Ireland" were born locally.

"The hurlers have always had a touch of class about them," he continued, likening their approach to the Waterford sides he played for.

At the age of 17, Hale made his debut for the Blues and his goalscoring feats immediately caught the eye. Scouts were watching and in 1960, Waterford sold their prized asset to Aston Villa. And so began a six-year career in England. Spells at Doncaster Rovers and Newport County followed. And while Hale freely admits that he never really settled cross-channel, finding life in Birmingham difficult, his time there, he felt, made him a better player.

"I went to Aston Villa as a fella with great ball skills but when I came back after six years, even though I didn't like living in England, I came back a mature, strong, young man that could hold his own confidence wise and strength wise in every respect."

And what followed was success with his local club in the shape of five league titles, with Hale player/manager for one of those successes. There was also an appearance against Manchester United in the European Cup in 1968, as well as winning 14 caps for Ireland.

Approaching his mid-30s, Hale was still a player to be feared, still very much in his prime. In early 1974, Waterford were in trouble financially and sought to cash in on their main man.

Hale takes up the story: " Waterford said to me they'd got an offer from Cork (Celtic) that would clear all their debts and pay all the wages for their players, and if I didn't accept the club would go out of business, be gone in two weeks.

"I reluctantly took up the offer with Cork and I did go on to win a league with them. A lot of people didn't like the fact that I did leave but our manager Shay Brennan wanted me to stay. At 35 or 36, most clubs would be happy to get rid of you but I planned all along to retire with the Blues."

After Cork, spells with St Pat's, Limerick, Thurles Town followed, before Hale did get his Kilcohan Park swansong in 1983, three years on from that uncomfortable feeling in Dalyer. He was now nearing his 44th birthday. A League of Ireland goalscorer in the 1950s, 60, 70s and 80s.

Hale, the businessman, was also making his mark, with his name adorning sports shops and pubs.

Having tasted life as a player/manager, sole residency on the sideline followed with a number of clubs, including two spells with Waterford, where Hale oversaw their journey to an FAI Cup final against Shamrock Rovers in 1986. And in 1989, while in charge of Cobh Ramblers, he was instrumental in signing Roy Keane, spotting early the "leadership" qualities that would make the Corkman eventually stand out.

Asked to sum up his career, Hale is quite to the point, when saying: "I can't moan or groan; I have had good times and bad times. The good times can't be good times until you appreciate what the bad times were."

Perhaps it would have been a few more good times if he had managed FAI Cup success himself as a player. He doesn't know yet whether he'll be in Dublin 4 for Sunday's final.

"I feel that I have been a jinx to Waterford," Hale uttered.

"I have been involved in four cup finals and went to see two outside of that and of the six we only had one success and that was in 1980. I don't know whether it was me."

Too harsh on himself? Probably.

But then there's the 2004 final, where Waterford lost controversially to Longford Town at the old Lansdowne Road on 2-1 scoreline.

Hale recalled: "There was a throw-in; I was on the far side of the pitch but in front of me somebody threw in a ball. So you had a ball already on the pitch as the throw was about to be taken. The Waterford defenders were static, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle and remove the second ball. He let Longford play on and they scored a goal (which was the equaliser) from it.

"After the game I was heading home with a few of the lads that I had driven up with and I crashed my car. It turned out to be an awful day. A jinx alright."

The thoughts of one former Waterford manager on the current occupier of the role boasts a glowing report. No surprise, given where the Blues were before Graham Coughlan's arrival last May.

"Graham has changed Waterford from a team that couldn't win a match to a team that now rarely loses a match," Hale said in summarising the Dubliner.

"He has been a steady influence. He never gets carried away, was reminding people that we're still a struggling club and that relegation hovers us until such time as we're no longer under that threat. And we avoided that. Now we're in a cup final yet he keeps telling us that talk about how great we are will not matter until we win the cup. All I can say, Waterford need to stick with this man, give him the resources to make the club even better."

News of a new contract for Coughlan last Monday was welcomed by Hale.

Coughlan's seemingly pragmatic approach has also being noted, in what is something of a throwback.

"The Waterford that I saw before Coughlan came thought they were Manchester City, playing tippy, tappy football but you need to have world class players to play like that.

🔴 0-2 ⚪ Waterford have doubled their lead and who else would it be, but Tommy Lonergan? The Ireland U21s superstar with a brilliant finish and they are 30 minutes away from a cup final place #rtesport 📺 Watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player https://t.co/UdHQ1obHYw

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 9, 2026

"The players that Waterford have can't produce that. Coughlan tightened the defence with the centre-backs we have and we have forwards who can finish moves off if they get the right service. It's a simple game, let defenders be good defenders and let the forwards, the likes of the sprightly Amond (Pádraig) and Lonergan (Tommy), do the clever work up front.

"They are going into the final with a measure of confidence that they've never had before. In the semi-final Bohs outplayed us for the first half, we had a few dizzy spells, but we still stood up. We put bodies on the line and the keeper was magnificent. And in the second half we turned it around. Our front men delivered. Could we see something of a repeat in the final? Possibly.

"I look at Derry. They've improved and want to play football of the purist type and it's lively. Cup football, as we saw that night in Dalymount, is about making the most of those chances. If you don't, the opposition will. I think Waterford are the type of team that can soak up a lot of pressure and hit teams on the break. Derry play a nice brand of football, the type of football to leave you out of breath. But if you don't hit the net, then what?

"One-nil will do for me."

And so say the loyal Waterford fanbase who will converge on the capital this week.

Whether present or not, Hale will be kicking every ball, ready to applaud with countless others if the trophy is back in the city on Monday.

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Watch the Club Orange FAI Cup final, Derry City v Waterford FC, from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1