Emma Duffy

IRELAND’S YOUNG ATTACKING stars are counting the minutes as they continue to develop — and now, new opportunity awaits.

Abbie Larkin and Emily Murphy both burst on the scene, but have taken very different paths to this point.

Neither of their rises have been exactly straightforward. 19-year-old Larkin impressed at Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers, and was Ireland’s breakout star at the World Cup, before a fleeting four-month spell at Glasgow City. She is now finding her feet at Crystal Palace.

Murphy was once “the future” at Chelsea, scoring twice on her full debut aged 16. Now 21, the English-born forward recently signed for Newcastle United after a US collegiate career with North Carolina Tar Heels and Wake Forest University.

“I’m loving it so far,” says Murphy. “For me, as a young player, the biggest thing I can look for is going somewhere I’m going to play, and put myself in the best position to play.”

The five-cap international wanted to be closer to family, and ”come back to the football I remember playing”. There was WSL interest, but Murphy deduced Newcastle were the best fit with regular game-time more likely in the Championship.

“At the end of the day, everyone wants to be playing. We’re in this profession to play. While in football those things come and go, when I came back I wanted to hit the ground running.”

Larkin knows that challenge all too well. She struggled to feature initially when she joined Crystal Palace last January, but has been getting more chances since the Eagles’ promotion to the WSL.

“I came from them playing in the Championship and not getting any minutes to actually coming on in the WSL, which is always what I wanted,” says Larkin. “It’s definitely a big step. It’s tough in the WSL, everyone’s fighting for their place.

“Not playing, sitting on the bench is not going to help your development. Confidence is key. If you’re playing a lot of minutes, you’re going to get confident on the ball. It just helps you believe in yourself more.”

Although life has been tough for the basement side this season, Larkin has made 12 league appearances and recently scored her first goal for the club against Murphy’s Newcastle in the FA Cup.

“I am definitely settled,” Larkin adds, now clubmates with Irish duo Izzy Atkinson and Hayley Nolan after a series of moves. “I’m enjoying it.”

So too is Murphy, but the duo are parking their club commitments this week as they focus on international duty.

The Carla Ward Era officially gets underway on Friday: Ireland open their Nations League campaign against Türkiye at Tallaght Stadium, before a trip to Koper to face Slovenia.

Emily Murphy: 'We’re in this profession to play.' Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

Murphy is one player who has worked under Ward before, on a short loan spell at Birmingham City in 2021 before heading Stateside. While stressing her delight at her former manager’s arrival, Murphy isn’t reading much into that past experience.

“Look, there’s a lot of things to take into context from when I was at Birmingham. One, my age, but also the position we were in. We were a team that was fighting to stay in the WSL so a lot of things change when that’s your reality.

“She kept us up and that was a huge win for the club, for herself, for the girls on the team. I don’t think I could take how we played in that season to here, it’s a completely different game, a completely different environment. I’m very excited to get back working with her and the rest of the staff as well.”

One thing’s for sure: a new dawn brings opportunity, and both Murphy and Larkin will be hoping to seize that. Attack will be one area of focus for Ward as she looks to fill the void left by the retiring Julie-Ann Russell.

Former boss Eileen Gleeson generally deployed a front two — Kyra Carusa and Leanne Kiernan regularly featured — and wing-backs in a 3-5-2, while Ward has teased “a very different way of playing.”

“I think it’s going to be more attacking, which is definitely going to benefit me. I’m such an attacking player,” says Larkin, who sees herself mostly as a right winger.

“We’re all really excited for her coming in and we’re excited for a fresh start.”

Murphy can vouch for that too, having been “upset” and “frustrated” as Wake Forest didn’t release her for Ireland’s Euro 2025 play-off. (Larkin won her 21st cap as a late substitute against Wales in December.)

She has had to be patient, both in life and in football, and is happily looking to the future. 

“As a kid I always wanted to get from A to B as fast as I could,” Murphy, who qualifies for Ireland through her Dublin-born father Jonathan, concludes.

“Being exposed to professional environments, whether at Chelsea or Birmingham, with Carla Ward, as a child — because I was only a child — you learn a few things and you realise football is not going anywhere.

“So if I can focus on my own development and pathway, then hopefully I can get to exactly where I want to be at the end of my career. I don’t know where that is exactly. But little stepping stones to get there is probably the way I operate.”