Rowan Hits The Road

Waterford FC announced the departure of Rowan McDonald to Coleraine in the Northern Irish Football League this morning. One of the last players from the promotion-winning squad of 2023, he joins the County Derry club on a long-term contract for a small fee. It leaves Waterford down a player heading into the final two months of the season just as results have plunged the club into a crisis that would, in usual circumstances, require ‘all hands on deck’.

McDonald joined Waterford in August 2023, helping the Blues to win promotion through the playoffs and then establishing himself as a regular starter in two years in the Premier Division. It’s rare that a foreign player stays with Waterford for a third season so the Manchester City graduate’s spell made him a very familiar face here. Having trained with Derry City in a 2023 preseason trial while still recovering from two horrific years of injuries, Rowan will now link up with manager Ruaidhri Higgins again at Coleraine who have started the NIFL season impressively with ten points from their opening four matches.

 

 

The 23-year-old has been a key player under John Coleman, having started eleven of the Blues’ last thirteen league games. Injuries to Kacper Radkowski, Darragh Leahy and Andy Boyle, as well as Grant Horton’s repositioning to wing back, have seen McDonald play six of those out of position in the middle of the defence, but it has been an inconsistent period with him switching between midfield and defence on an almost-weekly basis. Rowan was in midfield for the vital July wins against Cork City and Galway United, but reverted to defence for the draw in Drogheda when he earned the Man of the Match plaudits. He was also in defence, however, for both recent losses in Cork and the seven-goal humiliation in Derry. While the merits of his positioning can be debated, what was clear was that he was key to the manager’s plans. It might even be surmised that Coleman wanted two Rowan McDonalds, but has now been left with none. 

How the Blues plug that gap is now a major unknown that will have a critical influence on the last seven – or possibly eight – games of the season. There must be serious questions about the status of Darragh Leahy and Andy Boyle. Leahy last played a month ago in the 2-0 home defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic. The only mention of him in dispatches from the club has been a line in the preview for the cup game on the 14th of August when it was said that “John Coleman is hopeful of having Darragh Leahy available for selection after Leahy missed last Friday’s trip to Drogheda through injury.” Since then, nothing. Boyle, 34, has only been fit to start fourteen games, to date, since joining the club. He was named in the starting line-up last Friday, but then a last-minute change saw him replaced with McDonald. New signing Finlay Armstrong has also been absent without explanation for the last four games. He played twice in the league, once in the cup, and hasn’t been mentioned since.

Fans become frustrated when information dries up and, from past experience, fear spreads rapidly through the support base. In the final days of the previous owner’s stewardship, Cian Kavanagh was sold for a nominal fee, while Phoenix Patterson and Junior Quitirna were also put up for sale. There was a denial that the club was up for sale (just weeks before it was sold), fans were left to wonder if Anthony Worsdworth was still at the club, and were generally in the dark about staffing and ongoings at the club. 

 

Photography by Noel Browne

 

In contrast, the present ownership has been very open in most regards with communicating with supporters. Announcing the retained and released list at season’s end was a very welcome development, not to be forgotten. Fans have heard more about contract details than ever in the past and the main figures from Fleetwood Town have been very engaging with Waterford FC supporters. Occasionally issues will arise that are beyond the norm, such as Quitirna’s immigration status or Matty Smith’s medical prognosis, where legal advice or discretion will prevent the club from informing fans as fully or openly as they would otherwise. That’s where trust comes in to play. That’s a delicate, but crucial factor in the connection between any club and its supporters. When the shutters go down, so to speak, and fans’ concerns are left unanswered, is when that trust begins to erode.

With no game until September the 19th, the team (and fans) have a chance to recover, regroup and put a plan together to get back on track and avoid a disastrous end to the season. The players were, understandably, given a break for a few days and return to training tomorrow. It seems obvious that the team and staff need to work long and hard over the next two months to ensure that Waterford remain in the Premier Division for 2026. There will need to be plans for future progress, but securing top flight football is the overwhelming priority and few could say that is guaranteed right now.