After a 91-day off-season, the Blues return to League of Ireland action tomorrow night as they welcome Joey O’Brien’s Shelbourne FC to the RSC for our 2026 league opener.
Waterford FC vs Shelbourne FC
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday 6th February 2026
RSC, Waterford
7:45pm
Waterford FC
The off-season has seen plenty of change for the Blues, with Jon Daly taking the reins at the club ahead of the 2026 season. An experienced League of Ireland manager, Daly has brought Richard Foster to the club with him as his assistant manager, as the duo prepare for their first competitive game with the Blues tomorrow night.
Daly has brought ten new players to the club ahead of 2026, with Benny Couto, John Mahon, Cian Barrett, Conor Carty, Evan McLaughlin, Luke Heeney, Hayden Cann, Jordan Faria, Jorgen Voilas & Arlo Doherty all joining the club going into the new season, giving a fresh look to our Blues side ahead of Friday’s clash against the 2024 champions.
With captain Pádraig Amond fresh from signing a two-year contract extension on the eve of the new campaign & Conan Noonan making his loan move permanent at the RSC in a club-record transfer, Friday night has the perfect ingredients for the Blues to start their new campaign in a positive manner.
Shelbourne FC
Joey O’Brien brings his Shelbourne side down to the RSC for their first away trip of the season for the third consecutive season in a row. The sides shared a 1-1 draw on the opening night of the 2024 season, before the Drumcondra side defeated the Blues on match night two of the 2025 season 1-0.
The Reds have strengthened their side over the off-season with astute signings from outside the league. Portuguese striker Rodrigo Freitas has joined the club, along with goalkeeper Wessel Steel extending his loan-spell at Tolka Park, to bolster O’Brien’s options.
Club stalwarts Mark Coyle & Conor Kearns have both departed the club in the off-season, with Shelbourne set for a fresh start ahead of the 2026 campaign, which gets underway at 7:45pm tomorrow night at the RSC.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Jon Daly spoke to the media earlier this week to preview his first competitive game in charge for the Blues.
“I think any team is a tough ask in this league. We were only speaking about that earlier this week, when you look at all our fixtures, there’s nobody in the calendar that you’re looking at thinking ‘that’s three points’. Every game is going to be competitive, it’s such an unforgiving league. If you’re not at it for whatever reason on the night you could get turned over, so we need to make sure that we give ourselves the best opportunity being defensively solid and can we offer a threat going forward, something we feel we can. It’s about getting it right at the back and making sure we give the attacking players the service we need to go win the game for us.
It’s going to be tough, clubs have strengthened their squad, we understand that, and we’re well aware of the challenges within the league. Most the players we brought in bar one or two have played in the league before so they understand what the league is about. They understand what to expect and I think that’s important. It’s not an easy league, it’s a tough division with top teams & top players in it, and we’ll need to be at it as soon as we start.
It’s important for us to buy into that community feel and give back to the support, because everyone is in this together. There’s going to be good moments this year, there’s going to be moments where we need the fans to give us that support, but we have to give back to the fans in spades too. I’ve spoke to Colin Power in our community department at the club, and I’ve said we’ll be getting the players & staff out to different events over the year because it’s important for us to give back to the fans across the season. It’s not just about the fans coming supporting us on a Friday night, it’s about us supporting them throughout the week as well & making sure we give back to the fans because without the fans there is no football club.”
Pádraig Amond also gave his thoughts on Fridays game, noting how difficult an opposition Shelbourne are.
“I’m excited for the season to start. It’s been a long time since pre-season started for us, so everyone’s excited and looking forward to seeing the RSC being packed tomorrow night, and hopefully we’ll get the season off to a good start.
Shelbourne are a very good side, with a very good manager in Joey O’Brien. They were very good in the league last year and very good in Europe too. They’ve recruited well in the off-season, so they’ll be looking to win their title back. It will no doubt be difficult for us, but we’re looking forward to it. There will be a great atmosphere at the RSC tomorrow & I know we’ll have great support behind us. The fans supported us last year every week, so hopefully the fans will be behind us from the first whistle again tomorrow nightand we’ll give them huge things to cheer about on the pitch.”
Team News
Jon Daly has confirmed that the game has come too soon Dean McMenamy, with Daly hoping for the midfielder to be involved in the match day squad against Drogheda next Friday night.
Sam Glenfield & Trae Coyle are both available for selection this week, having overcome their injury worries during pre-season with the pair getting important match minutes in their legs last week against Bohemians & Cobh respectively.
Arlo Doherty (hamstring) is a doubt for Friday’s game due to a knock.
