Ross Zambra ready to bring the ‘Wayside Celtic Way’ to the FAI Cup

Nestled on the Glenamuck Road in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains at Jackson Park, Wayside Celtic have kept to their principles through the years. 

And the club will likely never veer away from that as they look to establish themselves as one of the top intermediate sides in the country once again.

So days like Sunday in the FAI Cup, when they welcome Wexford to the expanding Dublin suburb of Kilternan, mean a lot to Wayside. 

Senior boss Ross Zambra has been with the club for 13 seasons, initially as a player during their glory days, before taking over the reins as senior manager when club legend Pete Lennon stepped down in 2021. 

And Zambra – the older brother of former League of Ireland midfielder Dean – has sought to rebuild Wayside’s standing as a dominant force in the intermediate ranks having added quality to his squad. 

Dean is the most well-known name in their squad, with others like Cian Fay (ex-Longford Town), Darragh Lynch (formerly of Bray Wanderers) and Luke Clucas (previously of Cabinteely and Bray) in their squad last season. 

“They are the type of player that we're looking to get,” Ross tells extratime.com. “They might have played a few games and didn't quite make it into the first team. 

“We do have a good few who did play in first-team of League of Ireland clubs for a year or two and then they've looked to move on. 

“We give them that opportunity to play at a really good level and let them build a career off the pitch in terms of not asking for a half day or days off every Friday. That's probably the appeal that we have for lads coming out of the League of Ireland.

“We don't pay anyone and we don't have that sort of budget. We're a completely amateur club, so we can't give people expenses or anything like that but they’ll be very well looked after as a person and player.” 

Wayside are one of the few Leinster Senior League top-flight outfits operating with a completely amateur model, and Zambra insists it will stay that way at the club after finishing ninth in the league and reaching the FAI Intermediate Cup semi-final.

They also made the last four of the Metropolitan Cup. 

NEVER IN DOUBT

What a team!

Full time and 4-0 Wayside! We finish beating the two best in the league to confirm we are where we belong @123ink_ie@jakoireland@thestepinn@AlQuinn2015@LSLLeague#SupportLocalpic.twitter.com/kLohI9feJG

— Wayside Celtic (@waysideceltic) June 5, 2024

“I always say if players are able to go and get a few bob off a team in the Leinster Senior League, I wouldn't begrudge them getting it,” he adds. 

“But it's never going to be the case with us, whether we can afford it or not. 

“The tradition of our club is that no one gets paid. It’s completely voluntary. But we'd still set our sights on probably doing more than we did last year. 

“I'd probably go back to when I joined Wayside as a player. We were the top club in the league and one of the top clubs in the country. 

“My aim is to get us back to being the top club in the league and the top amateur club in the country as manager. 

“Doing it with no budget in terms of our players makes it harder but that’s just the Wayside Way.”

And the ‘Wayside Way’ has enjoyed plenty of success through the years. 

The club are three-time FAI Intermediate Cup winners (in 1996, 2001 and 2005), have won the LSL top flight five times (in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2011) and claimed the Leinster Senior Cup in 1999. 

They are the last amateur club to win the Leinster Senior Cup and made the last-four of the competition in 2013. 

But times are set to get even more exciting for Wayside with the club set to benefit from a significant increase in housing developments in the area. 

“A lot of the lads in our team would have been schoolboys with St Joseph’s but we haven't been able to produce loads of players through Wayside,” Zambra – who was the same – revealed. 

“We had a good under-19s team two years ago but we ended up losing quite a few of them. 

“Four have come back but there are so many houses going up around the place now. It's such a great opportunity for us as a club to grasp that influx of new people and kids to come to the club and play.”

Sunday’s home tie against First Division Wexford is not Wayside Celtic’s first foray in the FAI Cup either – having been a regular fixture in the competition during the 1990s and 2000s. 

And they have claimed a few scalps through the years, defeating Waterford in 1992 (1-0) and 1996 (2-1), Finn Harps in 1997 (2-1), Cobh Ramblers in 2005 (2-1) and Monaghan United in 2008 (1-0). 

Wayside also brought Bohemians to a replay in 2005 having drawn 2-2 at Dalymount Park before going down 2-1. 

“Sunday is definitely a day for the club to look forward to,” Zambra adds. 

“There's been so many days like this in the past and people in the club are telling me of the time they beat this team or they beat that team. 

“The chairman was telling me that they drew 2-2 away to Bohs in 2005 and brought them back to Bray for a replay at the Carlisle Grounds. 

“Bohs won the replay but that's the sort of memories that we want to give to people. Wexford is going to be a very difficult game. It's going to be a great occasion for the club. 

“The volunteers will make it a great day for all the spectators, whether they're from Wexford or Wayside. 

“From the players and the management point of view, we obviously want to win. 

“We're never going to win the FAI Cup but we are really proud that we're in this round.”

But Zambra admits he was hoping that Shelbourne would be drawn out of the hat to face his Wayside Celtic side – and not only because of the Damien Duff factor. 

He revealed: “I actually spoke to James Keddy just before the draw and he asked me who he wanted, and I said Shels. 

“We got a Shels legend in James Keddy but we didn't get Shels.

“That was the draw that I wanted because of Damien Duff, but I’m also a Shels season-ticket holder myself. Shels would have been my family's club. 

“My granny and grandad met at a Shels game so that was what I wanted anyway. 

“But we probably got the one team – aside from Bray – that will show us a huge degree of respect.”

He knows that Sandyford native Keddy – who coached Wayside previously under former Wayside boss Lennon – will not take the Dublin 18 side for granted.

It probably helps that Keddy was part of the Bohemians squad that were put to the pin of their collar by Wayside in 2005 too.

“James was the Bluebell manager the last time we won the league in 2011, so I know he'll give us the respect that we deserve,” Zambra explained.

“He's a local from Sandyford and his brother Glen would have played for Wayside. I know he won't be taking us for granted.”

Zambra then revealed: “When the former manager Pete was in charge, James came up and did a session with us and we got an awful lot out of it. 

“He's somebody I'd have massive respect for as a player because I'm fairly sure he won the League of Ireland with three different clubs, which I'm not sure many others would have. 

“I think he actually had a massively underrated career in the League of Ireland. 

“To me, he's a League of Ireland legend without any shadow of a doubt and he has done a great job at Wexford so far. 

“We've got nothing but admiration towards James. 

“Ian Fowler is their goalkeeping coach and he looked after our goalkeeper before one of our Intermediate Cup games. There's links between the staff.

“If one club was going to give us the respect that we think we deserve, it's definitely going to be them. I don't think we'll be able to spring any surprises.”