one in a lifetime
- writerbk
- Apr 19
- 6 min read
A man who started a footballing revolution on Suirside. A superb footballer who had done it all before this with Ireland’s most decorated club. A member of a prestigious Waterford family that is one of the most respected from International, League of Ireland down to Junior League. If you’re looking for footballing characters, Paddy Coad easily fits the bill.
Born Patrick Coad on April 14th 1920, the inside left started his career locally with Corinthians (also excelling at hurling) who were based in the Lower Yellow Road segment of the city. His talent was spotted early on, so much
so he made his Waterford FC debut against Drumcondra at the tender age of 17.
There was a short move up north to a flourishing Glenavon before returning to the Blues only to experience double heartache at the hands of Cork United. First as runners-up in the 1940/41 Free State League (the refusal of players to play a play-off game against the Leesiders over a bonus payment saw to that) and in the Free State Cup Final 3-1 after a 2-2 draw the same year with a Blues side that included the likes of Johnny Johnstone , John ‘Fatty’ Phelan, Jackie O’ Driscoll and Maurice Hartery.
With the Blues resigning from the league months later the Waterfordian needed a new club and was snapped up by a Shamrock Rovers side who had already won six League of Ireland titles , not to mention eight Free State (or FAI Cups for the younger of you) and seven League of Ireland titles. But it wouldn’t phase Paddy. Not one jot.
Coad’s first appearance in the famed ‘Hoops shirt came on February 8th 1942 in the FAI Cup against Brideville, a game in which he would score in a 3-1 win. Rovers then put out Bray Unknowns (Coad would score 2 in a 6-1 replay win) and again notch in the Semi-Finals against Dundalk , a 1-1 draw. The Suirsider would keep up his goalscoring prowess in the replay bit the Lillywhite’s proved to strong and Dundalk won 2-1 on the way to lifting the cup, beating Cork United in the final.
Paddy didn’t have to wait long for his first taste of silverware. Rovers would capture the Blue Riband in the 1943/44 season and Coad played a starring role , scoring against Limerick, Drumcondra (over two legs) and setting up Liam Crowe for the winner against Shelbourne in a thrilling 3-2 victory.
It made up for the disappointment with Waterford in 1941, and it also gave him an interesting insight to the financial incentives offered to Shamrock Rovers players.
“We were never on more than a £5 bonus for a win in a Cup Final. Normally it was just a pound in the first round unless the opposition was, well particularly stiff, then the bonus would rise to are £2 with a further £2 for the second round and £3 or £4 for a semi-final! We may have been successful back then, but we worked for those bonuses!” PADDY COAD
With the FAI Cup in the Glenmalure club’s trophy room again in 1945 (a 1-0 final win over bitter rivals Bohs in which Paddy starred), and again in 1948 – Coad would score in the 2-1 final win over a much fancied Drumcondra but Paddy could never of envisaged how his footballing life would take such a dramatic after the 14th of November 1949 when Rovers manager , and former Sheffield United and Arsenal striker Jimmy Dunne passed away suddenly. The Ringsend man’s death at the age of 44 of a heart attack was mourned country wide. Not only a prolific striker (he hit 15 goals in 13 Ireland appearances between 1930-39) but Jimmy had won two League of Ireland Titles, and FAI Cup and 3 League of Ireland shields. To Paddy’s surprise, he was asked to fill Dunne’s rather big boots. At the tender age of just 29 Coad would face his biggest challenge yet.
It was a challenge the determined Waterfordian met head on. Taking the role of player-manager Paddy oversaw a period of tremendous success at Glenmalure Park. Introducing players like the late, great Liam Touhy , Rovers ‘Coad’s Colts’ won an unprecedented 14 trophies in a six year period between 1954 and 1959. Even by the Hoops lofty standards this was exceptional. Among those titles were three League of Ireland titles and two back to back FAI Cups. Other success came in the League of Ireland Shield, Leinster Senior Cup, Top Four Cup and the Inter City Cup.
At this point Paddy would have represented Ireland 11 times scoring 3 goals. His debut came against the old enemy on 30th September 1946 (losing 1-o to England) and his last, an away defeat to Spain on June 1st 1952. Despite being courted by various english clubs, Paddy stayed at home . Sometimes it was proved a hindrance when it came to internationals.
“We used to turn up in the Gresham Hotel at 12 on Sunday not knowing who would arrive over from England. They League of Ireland players would then be called in if there were any vacancies. It was just the way, but I never felt League of Ireland players inferior.” PADDY COAD
Coads Colts won an astonishing 14 trophies in just 6 years. A feat never equalled.
The European stage beckoned in 1957 and with it one Manchester United. Despite losing 9-2 on aggregate to the Mancunian giants, Coad’s display at Old Trafford, now at the age of 37 is still described as one of the best for a League of Ireland player on english soil.
Coad would leave Shamrock Rovers for new pastures. Thankfully those pastures were back in his native Waterford and the managerialship of Waterford FC.
It was a tough time for the Blues. In the 1964/65 season Waterford had finished bottom of the league and in danger of becoming extinct. Could Paddy have faced a bigger obstacle then getting Waterford back into winning shape? Obviously not, but by ’65 Coad thought he had a team that might just do something.
Despite the scale of it, Coad would make astute signings in Johnny Matthews, Mick Lynch and Jimmy McGeough. Al & Shamie Casey would add bite along with Vinny Maguire, John O’Neill and not to mention Paddy’s brother Shamie of course. Coad transformed the team’s fortunes, winning their first ever League of Ireland Championship in April 1966 with a 3-1 win away to Drogheda in Lourdes Staduim.
If ever there was a Midas touch, Paddy certainly had it.
Coad would pass over the torch and be on his merry way. At the age of 46 he had won almost 24 major honours , though his League of Ireland Championship with the Blues was probably his most fondest memory. In that time he had raised the standards of the game, made Shamrock Rovers an even bigger domineering force in Irish football while representing his country at international level. Once more the family dynasty has been kept in good stead by Gary and Nigel Coad who have represented the Blues, only the third set of generations to achieve such a feat for Waterford (the Hale’s and Fitzgerald’s being the others.) Sadly Paddy past away in 1992 aged 71.
His legacy by this time had already been cemented, so much so Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year Award is named after him. In 2016 the Blues celebrate the 50th anniversary of Paddy’s achievement of winning a first ever League of Ireland Championship.
The Coad family are a revered bunch in Waterford, and rightly so. For everything Paddy achieved in football his brother Shamie would not be far behind. A multipule league winner during the Blues domination of the League of Ireland 1996-74 he would also go into management locally. Shamies’s son David and Nigel Coad would also follow on in the family tradition , indeed Nigel was the one who gave me the idea to write the book in the first place. In a time when football seems to be at an all time low in Waterford, with the current Blues team a struggling First Division , without a current manager and poor crowds it means people of a certain age look back even more on the achievement of Paddy Coad and his Waterford side of 1966 that this year celebrate 50 years since that first title.
“Playing in Paddy’s side was special as we had so much success. But Paddy was by far the best player I’d played with. He was simply magnificent and of course when we were on the field together he played inside left so I was the recipient of everything good that he done. He just made the hardest of things easy. It was a gift.” LIAM TUOHY
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