The 2018 season saw Waterford return to the top flight after a nearly decade of absence and the Super Blues, the champions of the second tier a year earlier, did not disappoint, as they spent pretty much the entire campaign inside the top four and went on to finish fourth and qualify for Europe.
With the Blues sharing owners with Swindon Town, they were able to bring in players such as Courtney Duffus and Lawrence Vigouroux on loan from the English side, with both of them playing important roles in their campaign, while they also brought in several players who were either proven Premier League players or had experience of playing in England.
Given their resources, it would have always been a disappointment had they done any worse than they did, but they never ran the risk of disappointing their fans, even keeping pace with Dundalk and Cork in the opening third of the season in what looked to be a three-horse title race at the time.
Alan Reynolds's men were unable to maintain their superb start and spent the majority of the campaign as third in the table, but were eventually leapfrogged by Shamrock and finished fourth.
However, they still manage to qualify for Europe, meaning that their season can be seen as an absolute success. Given the sort of resources they have at their disposal, they will be looking to improve further during the winter and perhaps even push for the title next time around.
