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| Sport: | Football | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish: | Loch Garman | ||
| Nickname(s): | The Model men[1] The Slaneysiders[2] The Yellowbellies[3] The Purple and Gold[4] | ||
| County board: | Wexford GAA | ||
| Manager: | John Hegarty | ||
| Captain: | Ben Brosnan | ||
| Home venue(s): | Wexford Park,Wexford | ||
| Recent competitive record | |||
| Current All-Ireland status: | Leinster (PR) in2025 | ||
| Last championship title: | 1918 | ||
| Current NFL Division: | 4 (1st in2025; promoted to Division 3) | ||
| Last league title: | None | ||
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TheWexford county football team representsWexford in men'sGaelic football and is governed byWexford GAA, thecounty board of theGaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; theAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship, theLeinster Senior Football Championship and theNational Football League.
Wexford's home ground isWexford Park,Wexford. The team's manager isJohn Hegarty.
The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 1945, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in1918 and has never won the National League.
Wexford had one of the greatest football teams in the history of the GAA in the 1910s, winning six consecutiveLeinster Senior Football Championship (SFC) titles; it was also the first team to win four consecutiveAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) titles.[5] 1900 star James 'the Bull' Roche, who had fought for theWorld heavyweight boxing championship, trained that team, which featured Fr Ned Wheeler, Aidan Doyle and the O'Kennedy brothers, Gus andSeán, as players. The latter was the teamcaptain. The feat of six consecutive Leinster SFC titles was only equalled in 1931, whenKildare won the sixth in a sequence that had begun in 1926.[6]
Wexford's last major football success was winning the Leinster SFC title in 1945. From then on, the game ofhurling took precedence in Wexford and as a consequence the fate of the Wexford footballers was to descend into obscurity for many decades.
Following a 1999National Football League game betweenCavan and Wexford atBreffni Park, the Wexford managerJo Jo Barrett assaulted refereeMick Curley and received a two-year ban.[7][8]
Wexford reached the2005 National Football League final under the management ofPat Roe, but lost toArmagh. That game was notable for a request for payment attributed to Roe appearing in the minutes of a Wexford County Board meeting; Roe, it was alleged in the minutes, had asked in advance of that game for a €5,000 bonus if Wexford defeated Armagh, whilst €3,000 would suffice in the event of a loss.[9]
In managerJason Ryan's first year in charge, Wexford defeatedFermanagh to win the2008 National Football League Division 3 final in April of that year. This proved to be but the first success in what would be a historic year for Wexford football, as the team reached a first Leinster SFC final for more than 50 years. Along the way Wexford defeatedMeath (recovering from a ten-point deficit to win the quarter-final, held atDr Cullen Park inCarlow) and followed this with a comprehensive defeat ofLaois in the Leinster SFC semi-final. This was Wexford's fifth consecutive appearance in a provincial semi-final, but the team's first victory. The final, however, was lost toDublin, by a scoreline of 3–23 to 0–9. Wexford recovered from this defeat and advanced through the All-Ireland Series, unexpectedly defeatingDown by seven points to reach the2008 All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals. Armagh was the opponent in that game and Wexford secured another unexpected result, winning the game by a scoreline of 1–14 to 0–12 to reach a first All-Ireland SFC semi-final since 1945.[10]Tyrone defeated Wexford by six points in that game, though the team was within two points of the competition's eventual winner as the match concluded.[11]
Wexford again reached the final in the2011 Leinster Senior Football Championship. That year the team had an easier run of fixtures to the final than in 2008, facingOffaly,Westmeath andCarlow. The final was again versus Dublin. A poor performance from Dublin's star player,Bernard Brogan, assisted Wexford's efforts to stay close to Dublin's score throughout the match; however, a bizarreown goal contributed to a loss — by a scoreline of 2–12 to 1–12 — to the team that would later win that year's All-Ireland SFC title.[12][13] Wexford advanced Round 4 of the2011 All-Ireland SFC qualifiers where the team facedLimerick. Wexford sustained a single-point loss, by a scoreline of 1–18 to 1–17.
Paul Galvin briefly managed Wexford during 2019 and 2020 before moving away mid-season while play was halted amid theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games; his selectorShane Roche was appointed on an interim basis.[14] Galvin's tenure involved most (but not all) of the2020 National Football League campaign; he never actually managed Wexford in a championship game.[15]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2022) |
Team as per Wexford vsWicklow in the2020 Leinster SFC quarter-final, 1 November 2020
INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
RET Player has since retired from the county team.
WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.
| * | Interim manager |
| Dates | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 1991–1995[17] | Liam Fardy | Gusserane |
| 1995–1998[18] | Cyril Hughes | |
| 1998–1999[additional citation(s) needed][19] | Jo Jo Barrett | |
| 1999–2002 | Ger Halligan | ? |
| 2002–2003[20][21] | Dom Twomey | |
| 2003–2005[22][23][24] | Pat Roe | |
| 2005–2007[25][26] | Paul Bealin | |
| 2007–2012[27][28] | Jason Ryan | |
| 2012–2014[29][30] | Aidan O'Brien | ? |
| 2014–2016[31][32] | David Power | |
| 2016–2017[33][34] | Séamus McEnaney | |
| 2017–2019[35][36][37][38] | Paul McLoughlin | |
| 2019–2020[39][40] | Paul Galvin | |
| 2020 | Shane Roche* | Geraldine O'Hanrahans |
| 2021–2022 | Shane Roche | Geraldine O'Hanrahans |
| 2022– | John Hegarty | Kilanerin |
*Shane Roche was originally aselector but was appointedinterim manager afterPaul Galvin left suddenly in September 2020.[41] Roche was formally ratified for a two-year term as manager in January 2021 then chose to leave without seeking a further term ahead of the 2023 season.[42]
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Wexford has one All Star.
2004:Mattie Forde[49]
Wexford's sporting colours are purple and gold. This iconic choice was made in 1913 before using the colours of county champions clubs[50]
Disposal of the colours is changed during the year, being the traditional kit mostly gold with a purple horizontal half. Since the 1990s purple has gained more importance and has been used in sleeves and with gradients. The current kit is mainly purple with golden trims.
The crest has been changed several times. Until 1996, the team used the town ofWexford's traditional crest (three burning wooden ships), then they adopted the county's new coat of arms. Since 2006, Wexford GAA launched its own logo, used also on team jerseys.
Zurich Insurance Group sponsored the team on a four-year deal from 2020, following an announcement in October 2019.[51]
Runners-up (1):2005
Winners (1): 1992Winners (1): 2011[54]Runners-up (4): 1968, 1974, 1988, 2008Having lost out to Waterford on opening weekend, the Model men will be in search of their first win of the campaign when they welcome their neighbors[sic] to Wexford Town.
The record for shortest tenure as manager this year surely goes to Paul Galvin who was in charge for a grand total of zero championship games before walking out of the Wexford football job, citing time and travel commitments as the reasons behind his unexpected decision.
Liam Fardy of Gusserane, who managed the Seniors from 1991 to '95, has taken over as manager and will be assisted by Bob Tracey (Clongeen), Eddie Doyle (Shelmaliers), Jimmy Kehoe (HWH-Bunclody) and Eddie O'Sullivan (Kilanerin).
I got to know Oliver quite well during the reign of Carlow's Cyril Hughes as Wexford Senior football manager from late 1995 until the championship exit in 1998.
Twomey was born in Monaghan and played football with Cavan and Roscommon.
Brosnan's introduction saw his total number of competitive appearances for the Wexford footballers climb to 174, equaling record holder Brian Malone.
But on a Saturday night when the Fraher Field in Dungarvan took a battering from the elements, he matched the appearance record of 164 set by Colm Morris when facing Waterford.
