Now on its fourth of seven venues, the National Football Exhibition has launched in the South East with Waterford City Hall providing the perfect setting. Waterford follows on from successful stints in Sligo, Cork and Limerick, with Donegal, Dundalk and Galway to come before a return to Dublin.
Mayor of Waterford City and County, Councillor John Pratt welcomed the Exhibition to the Viking County ahead of a busy August Bank Holiday Weekend with Spraoi Festival also taking place. Mayor Pratt hopes that was many ‘Waterfordonians’ would come along and see what was on display.
Noel Mooney, FAI General Manager, spoke about his memories as a goalkeeper in the SSE Airtricity League and was delighted to meet members of Waterford FC including Michael Walsh who has been the clubs kitman for 53 years. Mooney contributed his own performance with assisting native Darryl Murphy in securing a move to England while also sharing memories of Waterford’s leading goalscorer Johnny Matthews, who was in attendance.
De La Salle’s Gavin Loneragn was presented with the National Football Exhibition’s first ‘Grassroots Hero’ award for his contribution to football locally and was joined by family and friends to celebrate the occasion.
National Football Exhibition Ambassador Ray Houghton then took to the stage and called upon Wexford’s Michelle O’Neill to join proceedings after revealing the latest Exhibition additions with the official Match Jersey from the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup final and signed red and yellow cards from the game.
O’Neill called upon the young people in the crowd to put in the hard work to achieve their dreams as she shared her own path to the world stage. Houghton echoed her words by encouraging parents to facilitate their children to play the game we all love.
Separated into six different zones to represent various parts of Irish & European football, the Exhibition contains rare match programmes, unique match jerseys, treasured memorabilia and an interactive element with a Photo Booth to get your picture taken, a recording booth to practice your commentary skills, and quiz stations to test your footballing knowledge.
The local Waterford zone sees contributions from Waterford FC, the Waterford Junior League and memorabilia from John O’Shea with the centurion named as the Local Waterford Legend.
Feel free to roam around and discover every part of the Exhibition, or download the National Football Exhibition App and pick up a pair of free headphones at the venue to listen to the audio tour.
Taking place in Waterford City Hall, the free of charge Exhibition will be open to the public until Sunday, August 12.
Waterford City Hall Opening Times
Monday – Friday 11:00-16:00
Saturday – Sunday 11:00-17:00
Download the National Football Exhibition App from the App Store or Google Play Store for additional information and future venues.
Additional Venues
Donegal – September 2019
Dundalk – February 2020
Galway – March 2020
Dublin – June 2020