With reporting by Matt Keane
Tributes have been paid to the former Waterford FC player and manager Johnny Matthews whose funeral took place Tuesday morning.
The Coventry native passed away on Christmas Day.
He joined the club during the 1965/66 season on a six-week loan but never left and went on to make 327 appearances with the Blues, collecting 6 League of Ireland medals and another one with Limerick.
Johnny's funeral mass took place at the Church of The Holy Cross, Tramore and was followed by a private cremation.
The Waterford branch of the Referees Society formed a guard of honour as his coffin was brought to the alter and the mass was celebrated by Monsignor Nicholas O'Mahony.
John O'Neill, Paul Morrissey, Alfie Hale and Dave Kirby were among the former Blues players present, while former FAI CEO John Delaney also attended as did interim CEO Paul Cooke.
The final eulogy was delivered by one of Johnny's daughters, Sarah-Jane. She described her father as a "loving son, a brother, a brother-in-law, a teammate, a manager, a best friend, a patient father, and a loving husband who would have moved heaven and earth for his sweetheart".
"But for now," she said, "remember our dad John Matthews, and as he would say, the only way is up."
