The Waterford F.C. legend who got one over Iker Casillas, suffered Cup final heartache and now believes the glory days are coming back to the RSC
John Frost suffered heartache and loss in a Waterford shirt but is convinced the club has finally turned a corner under Keith Long.
The only thing John Frost ever wanted was to play. Maradona dribbled and Paul McGrath tackled in his dreams.
Over and over, he’d watch videos of them in action, McGrath’s triple block on the edge of the Giants Stadium penalty box etched into his memory. He liked what football gave him, an identity, an outlet, a place to battle.
Time after time he heard people say he was too small. But coaches liked what they saw and kept picking him, Brian Kerr for the Ireland youth teams, Tommy Lynch and then Mike Flanagan for Waterford United.
He was 17, and still at school, when he made his debut for the Blues. Alan Reynolds, now Bohs boss, used to drive by and collect him for training. Flanagan, a cockney with a Jonathan ‘Woss’ type accent, often phoned his home and introduced himself bluntly: “Hello Mrs Fwost, it’s The Boss.”
And being a protective Irish mammy, Mrs ‘Fwost’ didn’t entertain Flanagan’s hubris.
Kerr spoke to them differently, getting to know his parents first names, making it clear that no player would be discriminated against because of their address.
“With Brian, if you were good enough, that was it,” says Frost. “He trusted you.”
Frost repaid him.
In 1999, Ireland’s Under 18s qualified for the European Championship finals, with a squad containing a dozen players who’d go to play League of Ireland, five of them winning a league medal.
Frost wasn’t one of them. Once, at St Pat’s, he finished runner-up. Twice he lost a FAI Cup final. With Kerr’s Ireland, he stood toe to toe with Florent Malouda in a Porto tournament match, then helped his country get one over Iker Casillas’ Spain at the 1999 Euros.
At home, he has four medals dangling from his wall, a bronze from 1999, two silver from the 2004 and 2006 Cup finals, and a gold from Sporting Fingal's success in 2009.
Yet that gold may as well have an asterisk imprinted on it.
“I played every minute of every round up until the final,” he says. “Then didn’t get a single second in the final.
“Did I feel part of it? That’s a tough one to answer. After initially retiring, I had regrets, a lot of them. Losing the 2004 final with Waterford; that stung. That still stings, actually. The 2006 final was another bitter pill.
“Sporting Fingal’s win was great. But I didn’t play in the final. That matters. Even a few minutes would have made the difference (in terms of feeling part of it). That was how I felt when I retired. Now, though, all these years on, I’ve a different perspective on it.
“It’s more pride than regret that I feel, the fact that football is such a rollercoaster, from the high of breaking through, the pride in getting picked for Ireland, the wonder of whether I would get across the water, the acceptance that it never happened, the ups and downs of results from year to year, week to week.
“So, the fact that I played adult football from 17 to 39, that is something I can look at fondly, because it is a battle, football. It is a struggle. And the fact I came through all that, that means a lot. That’s where the pride is.”
These days you tend to see Frost in a commentary box for Waterford games, or on a sideline for matches in the local district league, where he coaches alongside another former Blue, Vinny Sullivan.
Together they were part of the 2004 team that reached the Cup final, a game they should have won, but threw away in the closing minutes, ultimately losing 2-1 to Longford. “Don’t talk to me about it!”
Instead he is more willing to chat about how he believes Keith Long can end his club’s 44 year trophy famine.
The Blues have been in sporting recession since their 1980 FAI Cup success at Dalymount Park - with the capture of minor trophies such as the League Cup, First Division and Munster Senior Cup failing to sate the appetite.
But this year has seen an unexpected revival with ex-Bohs boss Long steering them to third in the league and also into the third round of the FAI Cup.
Now Frost, 44, is hoping Long can win two things: a Cup and also respect for his former club.
He said: “Keith has us ahead of schedule. This team he has built has a fantastic identity. They are a ball-playing side. When they concede, they don’t change tactics. Nor do they panic. They just trust their skills to get back into the game.
“We needed this in Waterford because it is a sports mad county but also a success starved county. It is 1959 since we last won an All-Ireland in hurling, 1980 since we won a FAI Cup, 1973 since we last won the League. What annoys me is when people speak about us in a certain way, calling us Waterford United still, say, even though we are Waterford FC.
“You definitely sense that people in Dublin look at us and say, right, Waterford, that is the south-east box ticked.
“And that attitude won’t change until we grab a bit of success and gain a bit of respect. Outside of Waterford people might think this season’s success is a flash in the pan but I’d love to see us kick on and get the whole country to sit up and take notice.
“That will require winning a Cup or gaining a European spot. Until we do that we will be overlooked. It is a frustrating situation to be in.”
But Frost is a believer in Long and his capacity to mould teams in his own image.
He said: “Keith’s patience with players and ability to always look at the bigger picture is the thing that has got us here.
“Like last season, when it was clear we weren’t going to catch Galway, he experimented with players, placed his trust in them, sent makeshift teams to places like Kerry, because he wanted to see if a player could develop.
“Charlie Pattissson is a prime beneficiary of that policy. He has become a star.
“The same thing is happening again this season - Keith getting gametime into fringe players when we beat Cockhill Celtic. He knows what he is about.”
So does one of his former managers - Reynolds, now in charge of Bohs, where he was shipping flak following an indifferent start.
But Frost said: “Think about what Alan achieved with us when he first became a manager way back in 2004.
“He was 29-years-old. We hadn’t been to a Cup final in 18 years and haven’t been to one since, by the way. But Alan got us there in his first season. He creates a bond, brings a sense of calm, puts people at ease, but if we didn’t do what we were asked to, we got hit with both barrels.
“We took it because he had a great personality trait of being able to give out to us without ever losing us.
“We knew we deserved the stick when we got it. He was so honest, Alan. That team had such a connection. We might not have won anything but we still meet up once a year. The bond hasn’t been broken. That’s management.
“So if I was at Bohs, I’d give the man time. That’s not a cliche. That’s a fact. Bohs will turn a corner under him once he has the time to buy the players he wants, the players that reflect his personality and beliefs.”
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