TRAILBLAZER. ROLE MODEL. Legend.
***
“No comment,” Áine O’Gorman laughed at suggestions of a World Cup swansong.
The Ireland centurion had said in the past that it would be a nice way to bow out — this time for good.
But she was keeping shtum in Brisbane.
A little over a month later, confirmation of her second international retirement arrived.
“The greatest honour,” she wrote on social media this morning alongside a heartfelt statement and photograph of her son, James, in an O’Gorman 13 jersey.
The greatest honour 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/TTbqGUVjqF
— Áine O' Gorman (@Aineogor9) August 24, 2023
119 caps and 17 years later, the Wicklow native has unquestionably left the shirt in a better place and played an integral role in the growth of Irish women’s football.
She has always given it her all, on and off the pitch.
Trailblazer. Role model. Legend.
That last word is thrown around loosely nowadays, but O’Gorman is just that.
She made her senior international debut in 2006, in a 4-0 defeat to Denmark at the Algarve Cup. She was just 16, named Ireland U19 Player of the Year a few months later, but quickly established herself as a key member of the team.
A natural striker, though versatile and often deployed at right-back or on the wing, O’Gorman was ever-present under Noel King and Sue Ronan; the Euro 2009 play-off loss to Iceland a seminal moment back in the day.
Aside from a stint with Doncaster Rover Belles in the Women’s Super League from 2010 to 2012, O’Gorman has played all of her football in Ireland. She started out at Enniskerry FC, before representing Stella Maris, Peamount United, UCD Waves and her current club, Shamrock Rovers. She is incredibly passionate about the game on these shores and appears to have a bright future in coaching, having balanced her football with full-time careers: personal training and a new role at Youthreach, Sallynoggin.
She was also a talented Gaelic football player, helping Bray Emmets to Wicklow senior championship success in 2010 amidst glory days at Peamount.
Those were few and far between with Ireland until recent times. Liberty Hall in April 2017 was a real turning point, with O’Gorman central through the fight for fairness with the FAI.
Herself and Emma Byrne – who she is second to on the all-time appearances list — led the charge as 13 players secured substantially improved working conditions for the team. (Six of the 13 played at the World Cup.)
Trailblazer. Role model. Legend.
O’Gorman retired from international football in September 2018, shortly after earning her 100th cap in a 1-0 defeat to Norway as Ireland failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
A little over two years later, she reversed her decision and returned to the Ireland fold under Vera Pauw’s watch. It was like she had never been away, thriving as an experienced squad player and predominantly used at right-wing back when called upon.
She was left distraught in Kiev as the Euro 2022 dream came crashing down, her unfortunate own goal decisive, but she came back stronger.
There were contrasting scenes in Glasgow last October as Ireland qualified for their first-ever major tournament. O’Gorman was a somewhat surprise inclusion in the XI, lining out on the right wing having not started for the team in almost a year. She was lively as the only-home based player in green at Hampden, and her emotion at the final whistle said it all.
So too did her smile during the anthem before Ireland’s World Cup opener against Australia in front of over 75,000 fans in Sydney.
A few days later, she was thrust onto the big stage against Canada after Heather Payne pulled up in the warm-up. At that, O’Gorman became the first active League of Ireland player to wear the green jersey at a World Cup — and first Irish Mammy.
Baby James and her wife, Rachel, were among those watching back home.
“To put on the green jersey at a World Cup was beyond my wildest dreams,” she wrote today.
119 and out — but there’s plenty more to come on the club and coaching front.
***
Trailblazer. Role model. Legend.
We may never see the likes of Áine O’Gorman again.
