Waterford United confirm successful takeover

[**FrOsTy**]

Waterford United FC wishes to announce that Lee Power has assumed control of the football club. Former professional footballer Power is the current owner and Chairman of Swindon Town FC, and he has represented Ireland at youth, U21 and B level. He takes over from former Chairman John O’Sullivan.

Mr O’Sullivan said: "I am delighted to support Lee as the new owner of the club and I look forward to the success that is sure to come. I would like to thank all the committee members over the years who have helped to keep things going during a tough time for the region."

Mr Power, whose grandfather hails from Waterford, said today: "I am delighted to be involved with a club of such great potential and one which has a wonderful footballing history. I hope the supporters and the business community will get behind what is a new beginning for Waterford United. I see this as a very exciting, long-term project. The facilities at the RSC, as well as those at the WIT Sports Arena are top class. I wish to thank FAI Chief Executive John Delaney for all his assistance over recent months, and I look forward to the coming season with great anticipation. I would also like to pay tribute to outgoing Chairman, John O’Sullivan and I would like to thank him for his assistance with the change of ownership.”

CEO of the FAI John Delaney recently met with Lee Power at FAI HQ, welcomed the move today, and said: “Waterford United is a great club, it has outstanding facilities and it is in the heart of a football stronghold.

“The region has produced some great players including the likes of the Fitzgeralds, the Hales, the Hunts, Daryl Murphy, John O’Shea and Jim Beglin, and through the great structures in the county it continues to produce a high level of underage internationals.

“Waterford is steeped in football, and their victory in the 1980 FAI Cup Final stands out as one of the great sporting achievements for this great city.

"It’s a club that is extremely close to my heart. My father was Chairman of Waterford and I was Club Secretary, and
I want to thank John O’Sullivan for his great efforts over the years.

“I’m delighted that a great football man in Lee Power is coming in to bring the club back to a highly competitive level, and replicate past glories.

[Lim till i die]

Lol :ball:

[ybig]

good news, hopefully they can build something their.

[Real ale Madrid]

What is it with people thanking John Delaney for doing f all.

[Titan]

What is it with people thanking John Delaney for doing f all.
It's the rules. Kind of like a new mob boss paying tribute to the Don.

That said when I saw that Power was thanking Delaney for his assistance I got a feeling of dread and became fearful for Waterfords future 😜

Don't know what Power is up to here but it's not an altruistic misty eyed knight on white horse type thing. Hope I'm wrong but this could end in tears.

[legendz]

I hope it works out for Waterford and that they are challenging for promotion in the next few years.

Hard luck again on losing out to the Kerry League in '08! ;)

[nr637]

Swindon Town owner and chairman Lee Power, where does he make his money from or what business interest has he?

[nr637]

Power is a former professional footballer, who began his career at Norwich City. He went on to play for another 10 clubs, including Bradford City and Peterborough United. After a short spell as an agent, Power became chairman of Cambridge United in 2006 and also took charge of the team on a temporary basis following the sacking of manager Rob Newman during the club’s time in the Conference. He resigned from the board after two years following a row with his fellow directors and joined the board of their local rivals Rushden and Diamonds, before taking a controlling stake at Swindon in April 2013. Power, who is based in Geneva, has invested a reported £1.2m in the club since his arrival and previously made no secret of the fact he is responsible for signing the players at Swindon, rather than the manager and claims he is more of a director of football than a traditional chairman.

[sulywaterfordfc]

Power is a former professional footballer, who began his career at Norwich City. He went on to play for another 10 clubs, including Bradford City and Peterborough United. After a short spell as an agent, Power became chairman of Cambridge United in 2006 and also took charge of the team on a temporary basis following the sacking of manager Rob Newman during the club’s time in the Conference. He resigned from the board after two years following a row with his fellow directors and joined the board of their local rivals Rushden and Diamonds, before taking a controlling stake at Swindon in April 2013. Power, who is based in Geneva, has invested a reported £1.2m in the club since his arrival and previously made no secret of the fact he is responsible for signing the players at Swindon, rather than the manager and claims he is more of a director of football than a traditional chairman.

Lee Power recently announced Tim Sheerwood as director of football

[wonder88]

Sherwood as DoF came down from the stand and took over the coaching in an FA cup game for Swindon tonight. Nice to see him back in the game, but not great for the coach/manager there. I remember Brian Kerr coaching from behind the fence at Finn Park at a Pats game up there, when he was DoF at the Saints. With more Irish clubs going towards a european type structure and appointing a dof(sporting director), it is important that role of everyone is clearly defined.

[Mr A]

Sun piece on this: http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/7262024/Waterford-Uniteds-new-owner-Lee-Power-is-convinced-he-has-Blueprint-for-success.html

[outspoken]

Talking very ambitiously, big concern as a town fan that they will out gun us next season now.

[SPXcyan]

Well.. who knows where he'll take the club.. but anything is better than where we are at; at the minute.. rather looking forward to next season now.

[nigel-harps1954]

Talk is cheap though. This could be either fantastic for Waterford, or it could hammer another nail into the coffin of a dying club.

There's close to 80,000 people around Waterford City and it's hinterland. It's a big town at the end of the day. Waterford county has a population of over 110,000, but south Kilkenny comes into this too. Tapping into some of the potential there could be huge. It's not beyond the realms of possibility to see the RSC packed out each week with a properly run club and a team winning on the pitch. That would only be less than 4% of the population of Waterford and it's surrounding areas to have those 3,000 seats filled each week.

Interesting times ahead for the club.

[Longfordian]

His comments about good young players potentially having a way into England with Swindon would be of concern. What's to stop him cherry picking the best young players and moving them to Swindon for nothing or a nominal sum?

[EatYerGreens]

There seem to be mixed views about him amongst Swindon Town fans.

If I was them I'd be wondering what he's doing distracting himself with a lower division Irish club instead of getting Swindon into a better position !

[nigel-harps1954]

I thought it was simple, he'd have to invest half a billion pounds to make Swindon a major power in English football.
A million euro would do the same for Waterford here and grab him some quick European cash.

[Dodge]

I thought it was simple, he'd have to invest half a billion pounds to make Swindon a major power in English football.
A million euro would do the same for Waterford here and grab him some quick European cash.

Every championship club in England has many multiples of the revenue Dundalk had this year. Every club in League 2 has more revenue than every LOI club bar Dundalk this year.

[EatYerGreens]

Exactly.

Any money you spend on an Irish football club will still see you left with a relatively worthless Irish football club. And making Europe pay for you is extremely hard in the league too, with only Dundalk managing it so far (and other clubs going down in flames trying).

Meanwhile, Swindon Town in the Championship would still be worth a lot of money. They have an entire English country to themselves, and no other clubs challenging them between Reading and Bristol. And there'll always be more people willing to pay good money for an English football club than small money for an Irish one.

[Philosophizer]

His comments about good young players potentially having a way into England with Swindon would be of concern. What's to stop him cherry picking the best young players and moving them to Swindon for nothing or a nominal sum?

The best players in our league have always been cherry-picked and brought to England for nothing (or a nominal sum) anyway, the list is endless - see Towell and Forrester last year. Towell went for free. Pats got a nominal sum for Forrester.

The only change here would be that Power would try to encourage them to move from Waterford to Swindon, rather than any other British team. I think it's a small price to pay for Waterford who should gain handsomely from this appointment. In fact, now that Waterford will have a proper link to a British team might even encourage more players to move to Waterford in the hope of moving across the water. Many of our best young players are very eager to move across. Forrester for eg took a pay cut to move to Peterborough. He was probably knew he was too good for League 2 as well but he was just desperate to get into the the English football league.

[legendz]

It's very optimistic to be talking about European football. Waterford finished 4th out of the 4 Munster clubs in the league. 4 years ago they lost to Dundalk. 4 years before that they lost out to the Kerry League! ;)

[oldskool]

Sun piece on this: http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/7262024/Waterford-Uniteds-new-owner-Lee-Power-is-convinced-he-has-Blueprint-for-success.html

long time lurker first time poster on here.... there is a shocking amount of love for Delaney in that piece in The Sun, and I note Fran Gavin has a letter to club secretary's tweeted by a couple of clubs today, this also mentions Power's takeover of Waterford in glowing terms.... I really don't know what to make of it, but its giving me a no feeling....

[Eminence Grise]

Welcome on board.

[oriel]

Every championship club in England has many multiples of the revenue Dundalk had this year. Every club in League 2 has more revenue than every LOI club bar Dundalk this year.

Good point, I think I read last season that a league 2 club getting past one round in the FA Cup (or possibly reaching the 5th round) get almost the same money that was on offer to win our PD. That will sum up the vast differences in revenue. Then again their wages are massive so their outgoings are very heavy.

[KeepersBall]

This has been bugging me since i first read about the takeover.
Did Lee Power serve jail time or do community service for something or other.
I have a memory of stories in the paper about him being a bold boy.
Or maybe i am mixing him up with some other ex Irish international.
Googled it and found nothing.

[sbgawa]

long time lurker first time poster on here.... there is a shocking amount of love for Delaney in that piece in The Sun, and I note Fran Gavin has a letter to club secretary's tweeted by a couple of clubs today, this also mentions Power's takeover of Waterford in glowing terms.... I really don't know what to make of it, but its giving me a no feeling....

Welcome koh

[El-Pietro]

Good point, I think I read last season that a league 2 club getting past one round in the FA Cup (or possibly reaching the 5th round) get almost the same money that was on offer to win our PD. That will sum up the vast differences in revenue. Then again their wages are massive so their outgoings are very heavy.
League One Clubs start in the First round of the cup. If they get to the fifth round thats a big achievement in fairness.

[Dodge]

http://www.thefa.com/competitions/thefacup/more/prize-fund

prize money there.

1st rd winners get £18k
2nd rd £27k
3rd Rd £67.5
4th Rd £90k

So if they reach the 5th round they'll have earned £202.5k

League two clubs earn facilities and "solidarity" payments from the FA and Premier league that total £714k (regardless of performance).

They get £30k if a home game is on TV and £10k if they're the away team

[vinnie]

They get £30k if a home game is on TV and £10k if they're the away team

And we all get told to shut up and be Glad we're on Telly

[oriel]

I like the away team deal for the FA Cup in UK. I always thought that would be a great thing to introduce if we ever got a proper tv deal. I think a fair deal would be something like 5k for the home team and 2k for the away side. It will never happen of course.

Anyway back on topic, it will be interesting to see the price Waterford start at in the betting, to win the 2017 FD.

[pineapple stu]

I think a fair deal would be something like 5k for the home team and 2k for the away side. It will never happen of course.
Isn't that exactly what we did have a few years ago?

[oriel]

I think there was a figure allocated for the home side, but I don't recall any for the away club? Only right they should be included in any new deal, if we ever get one.

[pineapple stu]

I think there used to be in the early days.

Then FAI progress meant it got scrapped. Then further progress meant the home side funding got scrapped too.

[sulywaterfordfc]

Name and possible crest changes on the way. http://www.wlrfm.com/sport/local/90086-change-is-afoot-at-waterford-united.html

[BonnieShels]

Thoughts on that prospect?Always liked Waterford's badges generally.

[nigel-harps1954]

Don't see why the need for a name change, but a bit of brand changing and rebuilding identity within the city and county should certainly be up on his list of priorities. In Waterford recently enough and people just have no interest in the club any more. Making a huge deal of a new club launch and publicising the arse out of it around the city could work in his favour greatly. Creating a team capable of challenging for the league then will keep people interested, but you need to capture the imagination first.

[vinnie]

I don't think it would take much to get arses back on seats in Waterford, look at the crowd for the play off a couple of years ago, a bit of success and the lapsed fans will be back IMO

[Martinho II]

what were Waterford's home jersey like before they changed to Waterford Utd? was this still the same as now?

[sulywaterfordfc]

Waterford United Football Club in my opinion has a bad name in the city itself the county, the entire south and south east region and throughout the football in the country. Personally I think giving the club a name change will help generate a fresh image and give people a better view on the club. In what will be a new start for the club it gives the club an entire new look with a new name, crest and possibly kit manufacturers and also sponsors. Of course as WUFC is in the crest a change there would be expected. I'm hoping the club redesigns the crest but keeps the three ships as the main symbol. Personally don't see the name change as a big deal TBH.

Sounds as thou there'll be an announcement Monday in relation to the management, coaches and players.

[placid casual]

Hopefully this goes well for Waterford, and they manage to regenerate their club. I've always enjoyed trips down there and they are a sleeping LOI giant of sorts.

[Yossarian]

It would be great to see Waterford get back to some sort of solid standing. I've enjoyed many trips down there, especially the play off in 2012 though the 2006 playoff victory still holds bittersweet memories for me due to our poor dvd production skills.

[Titan]

what were Waterford's home jersey like before they changed to Waterford Utd? was this still the same as now?

Pretty sure they wore either all white with blue trim or white shirts and shorts with blue socks.

Open to correction but reasonably sure that was it

[Fermoy Blue]

Pretty sure they wore either all white with blue trim or white shirts and shorts with blue socks.

Open to correction but reasonably sure that was it

Blue shirts, blue shorts,blue socks without any hint of white, trim or otherwise hence the nickname "The Blues "

[White Horse]

what were Waterford's home jersey like before they changed to Waterford Utd? was this still the same as now?


http://youtu.be/DeOWBI5ykfg

[Titan]

Fair enough. Thought they wore white at some stage. I stand corrected!

[gormacha]

Bar extinction, nothing could be worse than the last four seasons, so I for one welcome our new Peckham overlords.

Lee Power has - or so I'm told by a couple of friends who live in Swindon - a very clear vision of what he wants his clubs to do: make money. In Swindon, this has taken the form of trying to develop players and sell them on at a profit. That's far from unique in football, and is not necessarily beneficial or detrimental to a club's success - it can take many forms.

What baffles me is how you make money from a LOI club. In his interview with local radio, Power accentuated the importance of the outstanding training facilities and the introduction of the national u15 league in his decision to become involved. It is, I suppose, possible that he envisions synergies between Waterford and Swindon in terms of player movement. Some may see this in a dim light, but personally, given the chaotic turnover in Waterford's playing staff over the last several years, I fail to see how this could be any worse, and in fact, could make things much better, and even offer greater stability. I suppose he could make money should Waterford ever get a Dundalk-esque run to the business end of a European competition, but this would frankly require a huge and risky investment on his part, or a sequence of unlikely events on a budget that would still be many, many multiples of what our income and turnover is likely to be.

I'm cautious about what happens next, but I don't see how it can be any worse than recent years.

As the proposed name change is to our original name anyway, it will cause no controversy here. A badge change will also cause no controversy. He'd only run into trouble on any such issues if he changed the club colours, which I find highly unlikely.

At least this season is unlikely to be boring, something that couldn't be said of the last few seasons.

[pineapple stu]

What baffles me is how you make money from a LOI club.
Particularly Waterford (with all due respect)

Just a lot more work to be done there than at other clubs.

I presume obviously other clubs weren't available for takeover, but still, the First Division is the Graveyard for a reason.

[gormacha]

Particularly Waterford (with all due respect)

Just a lot more work to be done there than at other clubs.

I presume obviously other clubs weren't available for takeover, but still, the First Division is the Graveyard for a reason.

This isn't a partisan response, I genuinely intend it as detached analysis - I think there is *less* work to be done at Waterford than most other clubs, relative to the amount of money he probably had to invest to take it over.

Our senior side has been awful for years. We all know that. The playing staff side of things has to be revamped completely. That's by far the biggest challenge. And it's a huge challenge. But, compared to almost all other LOI clubs, there's no significant work to be done on the ground (I say that full in the knowledge that I personally don't like the RSC because of the running track); they have access to a state of the art training facility in Carriganore; the u17 and u19 setups (including coaching) are exceptionally good; and whilst crowds have slowly dwindled over the last decade because of being in the graveyard, Waterford is a football stronghold - a good run of form and the crowds will come back. Nothing succeeds like success.

I don't think any of this is certain or pre-ordained. I'm too long in the tooth to believe it'll be straightforward. I've watched clubs in England where I was brought up, and in the LOI for the last thirty-five years I've been here rise and fall; succeed, fail, and then succeed again; burst into life and then go bankrupt and out of existence. God knows what will happen under Lee Power, but we were dying anyway.

[Dodge]

Pretty sure they wore either all white with blue trim or white shirts and shorts with blue socks.

Open to correction but reasonably sure that was it

Judging by old programmes I have. There was a period in the 80s when Waterford wore white with a (presumed) blue pin stripe. It could have bee an away kit but I definitely remember they wore it against (red-wearing) Pats

[stann]

Judging by old programmes I have. There was a period in the 80s when Waterford wore white with a (presumed) blue pin stripe. It could have bee an away kit but I definitely remember they wore it against (red-wearing) Pats

They did seem to wear the white quite often in the '80s from what I remember, but it was always, at least nominally, an away strip, even though worn quite frequently, and for some big games. The 1980 Cup final, for example was all white, but the '86 one was back to all blue again.
Even up to very recently we've often been made change the blue shirt as it 'clashed' with red, or red and black stripes, but that hasn't happened for a while. Funnily enough we've not been refereed by Anthony Buttimer for a while either. Odd, that...
That pinstripe you recall Dodge sounds like the Hoffman's era kit - the pinnacle of sartorial elegance!

Just to go back a bit further, the full blue kit seems to have come in more in the '60s. Before that there looks to have been quite a bit of white - the shorts, sometimes the socks (blue and white hoops), and on the shirts the collars mainly, and blue body/white sleeves around the late '40s / early '50s.