Top Ten: Loans from Fleetwood

Transfers and loans between Waterford and Fleetwood Town have become a regular occurrence in the three years since the clubs’ partnership began. Famously, Phoenix Patterson, Junior Quitirna and Ronan Coughlan all moved eastwards while Kyle White went the opposite way, as have Sam Glenfield and, now, Tommy Lonergan after initial loan deals. Ronan Mansfield, Calum Costello and Zak O’Sullivan have all been given the opportunity of the development programme at Poolfoot Farm on short-term exchanges. Ten players have been loaned by Fleetwood to Waterford in those three years with varying degrees of success. Here, we rank all ten from least to most successful. 

10. Drew Baker
First up, it’s centre back Drew Baker who looked a promising addition having made eight appearances for Fleetwood in League One as a 19-year-old the previous season. He spent the first half of 2023 on loan with Declan Devine’s Bohemians, but only played one game as a 58th minute substitute away to Derry City. He came to Waterford in July 2023 to help push for promotion. Baker made his debut in a 2-2 draw at home with Longford Town and started the next two games before being dropped in favour of the returning Eddie Nolan. He made three more starts – a disastrous performance in a 3-0 cup defeat in Cork, away to Treaty United when he was hooked at half-time and in a meaningless end-of-season game in Kerry. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he wasn’t even making the matchday squad so it has to go down as a failed loan here. Now playing for Northern Premier League club Hyde United in the seventh tier of English football.

 

9. Liam Roberts
Liam is only 17 so it’s no real reflection of his abilities, but having played for just three minutes, he has to be placed here. With Matty Smith and Trae Coyle injured to start this season, Keith Long needed an attacking option, if only to fill a space on the bench. Fleetwood Under-21 winger Roberts was announced as a loan signing just hours before Waterford’s first game against Sligo Rovers and took his place on the bench in The Showgrounds. A week later, with the Blues 1-0 down at home to Shelbourne at the RSC, Long gave him his debut as an 87th minute replacement for Rowan McDonald. While it made little difference, wouldn’t the club and fans have been better-served in the long run had Zak O’Sullivan come off the bench instead? There’s also the ‘opportunity cost’ of other academy players missing out on the chance to be part of a matchday squad – Jesse Dempsey for instance. Roberts was an unused substitute in four more league games, played in the Munster Senior Cup defeat to Rockmount and started one game for the Under 20s before returning to Fleetwood in March. He may go on to have great success, but he had no opportunity to impress in Ireland. 

 

8. Tom Donaghy
When Matthew Connor aggravated an injury in preseason of 2023, Danny Searle needed a goalkeeper to cover for Paul Martin. 19-year-old Tom Donaghy came over on a short-term loan from Fleetwood’s development squad. He spent the early part of the season on the bench until Connor’s return and played one game for the Blues – a 2-1 Munster Senior Cup defeat to Cork City in Ozier Park in which he acquitted himself well. He returned to Fleetwood that June and had further loans at Hereford and Boston United before completing a move to Oldham Athletic that was soon to be made permanent. He helped the Latics gain promotion to League Two via the National League playoffs.

 

It never fully clicked for Chris Conn-Clarke.

7. Chris Conn-Clarke 
This was definitely the biggest disappointment of all of these loan deals because ‘Cricky’ was such a hot prospect, but never clicked in Waterford. There were a number of factors that probably contributed to Clarke’s underperformance here – a 21-year-old having his first child with his partner away from their families, the pressure of being Phoenix Patterson’s replacement, vitriolic abuse from some fans in the stands, and his general headspace at the time – and he never showed his true quality in a blue jersey. Having impressed in League One cameos for Fleetwood and torn up the National League with a series of spectacular goals on loan at Altrincham, Chris should have been able to take the First Division by storm. Instead, he scored just once in fifteen largely underwhelming appearances for the Blues and his season-long deal was cut short in June. He switched back to Altrincham on a permanent contract, was named the National League’s Player of the Season for ‘23/’24 and was sold to Peterborough United in League One for a reported £350,000 last summer.

 

6. Harvey Macadam
The Blues needed height in midfield so Fleetwood sent the 6’4” Macadam on loan for last year’s return to the Premier Division. This was seen as a bit of a coup as Harvey was an established League One player with thirty-seven appearances for the Cods and was a regular starter the previous season. At 23, he offered a nice mix of youth and experience. Harvey went straight into the team for a 2-1 defeat in Galway and started six of the next nine games with two more appearances off the bench. By May, he was out of favour and featured just four more times – three as a substitute. Macadam was recalled to the starting eleven for the clash with Drogheda United at the RSC, but lasted only five minutes before an injury saw him substituted and that was the last we saw of him. He returned to Fleetwood in June an a few weeks later, joined Morecambe with whom he was relegated from League Two this year. His time at the RSC was neither great nor terrible. He contributed, but didn’t hold down a starting place so it was something of a disappointment given hopes were high for him.

 

5. Sam Glenfield
For the purposes of these rankings, only time spent on loan counts, so Sam comes in at fifth place based on last season alone. Glenfield made his senior debut for Portadown at just 15 years of age and mainly played as a striker, but is happiest in midfield now. Having joined the Blues on loan last July, his combative style was illustrated by picking up a yellow card in each of his first five games. Sam made himself a hero with a thunderbolt of a goal to seal a remarkable 3-2 comeback win away to Bohs in August. His second goal came against Bohs again – this time at the RSC last October – and can only be described…as a thunderbolt. He scored his first of this season recently against Cork and…..well, it was a thunderbolt. In November, he became the first Fleetwood loanee to join Waterford on a permanent basis and has started the last thirteen league games, coinciding with the team’s upturn in results after a seven-game losing streak. Given that he only played nine games on loan, fifth seems a reasonable placing for Glenfield in this list.

 

It was a big call to bring Stephen McMullan in as first choice goalkeeper.

 

4. Stephen McMullan
This was maybe the most consequential loan between the two clubs as the Northern Ireland Under 21 international came in to take up the mantle as first choice goalkeeper. The decision was made to move on from Sam Sargeant in favour of a highly-rated prospect who only left his teenage years on New Year’s Eve. McMullan had played ten games for Warrenpoint in the NIFL Premier Division as a 17-year-old prior to his move to Fleetwood where he made his debut in League One with a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over MK Dons two years ago. He spent last autumn on loan with Caernarfon Town in the Welsh Premier Division, but this season has been his longest stint starting in senior football. Stephen has played all but one of Waterford’s twenty-four league games to date, keeping three clean sheets. He was a hero on the opening night of the season with a tremendous penalty save in Sligo and has had some outstanding days like the win in Tolka Park in May. It’s been a little bit of a mixed bag with some errors and some stunning saves. It’s all part of a natural learning curve, but the issue remains who gets the benefit, ultimately, from McMullan’s development. If Waterford are back to square one at the goalkeeping position at the end of the season, then it can’t be considered as good a loan as if those lessons learned help the Blues next year. 

 

3. Tommy Lonergan
In good news, this loan deal came to an end last week when Tommy joined Waterford on a permanent basis. Still only 21, the striker will likely go on to have a fantastic future with the Blues, but his ranking here can only be based on everything prior to last week. Six goals in twenty-two appearances was an excellent return from his loan deal and convinced manager John Coleman that he needed to secure Lonergan’s place at the RSC for the long-term. He has struck up a terrific partnership with Pádraig Amond and his work-rate is now a key part of the team’s tactical approach in chasing down defenders. Once Fleetwood activated his release clause from St Patrick’s Athletic in January 2024, it felt almost inevitable that he would play for Waterford at some point. That happened twelve months later and the Meathman has made a big impact with the Blues so fans are excited to have the Irish Under 21 international on board for years to come.

2. Barry Baggley
It’s very rare to see a player spend two seasons on loan at one club, so that raises the midfield wizard towards the top of this list. Being named as club captain for last season was a sign of Barry’s influence in the team and the esteem in which he was held by his teammates. He arrived in Waterford just short of his 21st birthday, but had already made a dozen appearances in League One for Fleetwood. He was one of the key figures in the Blues’ promotion-winning season in which he played thirty times, scoring twice and providing a staggering twelve assists – most notably a sublime ball over the top for Ronan Coughlan’s goal in the playoff against Cobh Ramblers. Last year began well, before a bad back injury on international duty with Northern Ireland caused him to miss four months of action. Baggley was never quite at his best on his return and the team struggled around him. He moved to St Pat’s this season and starts most games including their recent Conference League games in Europe. His massive contribution to Waterford’s promotion is the main reason for ranking him near the top of this list.

 

Hat-trick hero Maleace Asamoah made the league take notice of Waterford.

1. Maleace Asamoah
While the previous nine players have contributed to greater or lesser effect, Maleace Asamoah changed Waterford’s whole style of play last year and earns the top spot for his role in lifting the Blues to the upper echelons of the league table in the first half of 2024. His incredible speed created space for Amond, in particular, to exploit. From the first minutes of the opening game against the eventual champions Shelbourne, it was clear that defenders couldn’t handle him. He totalled six goals and four assists in his seventeen games for Waterford with a spectacular hat-trick against Dundalk being the peak. He set up two goals in his final game two weeks later as the Blues came from two down to win 4-2 against Drogheda United on national television with his dazzling pace exciting viewers all around the country. Asamoah moved to Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal last summer and scored his first League One goal in March. Waterford became more predictable and easier to defend against after his departure and their form suffered badly. With his lightning speed and skills adding numbers to the RSC attendance and spreading excitement about the club’s return to the top flight, Maleace seals the number one spot as the most impactful loan from Fleetwood to Waterford thus far.