Waterford FC have been boosted ahead of the Club Orange FAI Cup Final with the news that manager Graham Coughlan has agreed a contract extension that will keep him at the RSC for another two seasons.

Following a dramatic turnaround which has seen the club finish mid table and make the cup final for the first time in 22 years, Coughlan says it was an easy conversation.

“It was never going to take a long time,” he remarked. “I’m more than happy where I am, my missus will tell you that. It was her decision, it was the kids’ decision and they probably made that decision for us back in September, October. They can see I was more than happy.”

“It’s something that, you know, I much prefer my missus and the kids to make those type of decisions than me because they’re the ones that it affects most. So it was never an issue sitting down with the guys organising contracts here. As we said, it only took 24 hours. It was something that I’m glad was announced, I’m glad it’s come out and I’m glad people know about it now because it was a terrible burden keeping it to myself.”

Even with the cup final looming, Coughlan is already thinking ahead.

” It’s enjoyable. I love it here. And it’s something I just want the main thing for me staying was trying to build, trying to grow, trying to push on, trying to develop and be a bit stronger year after year. And if we can do that and we can push things on, well then I think we’ve got a bit of a future.

“If not, let so be it then. But look, we want to push the club on and we want to try and be better. We want to try and avoid these playoffs and survival and relegation battles. Can we get a different name, a different reputation? Can we push on and challenge on a regular basis? Can we push the top or break the top four, the top three, the top four in this country? Can we go and challenge them? Can we be better than what we’ve been over the last few years?”

The Club’s owner Jamie Pilley has welcomed Graham’s commitment to the Blues

“Graham is someone that I’ve admired for quite a while,” Pilley told WLR. “He’s simply been a revelation. He’s took us in directions we didn’t know we could go to and if you’d have told me in May that we would be finishing mid-table preparing ourselves for an FAI Cup final I’d have probably laughed at you.I

And the owner is looking forward to the cup final and hoping that the fans have something to celebrate on SUnday evening.

“It’s great to see how meaningful it is for all the fans, the staff, the players, all the people who work hard and have had to endure some bad performances over the last few years are now getting rewarded with not just a day out at the Aviva but a real chance at lifting a trophy.”