AMBER BARRETT IS still trying to live down Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to France at her new club RC Strasbourg – but is hoping to get her own back over the coming weeks.
The Irish striker had a “wee bet going on” with Strasbourg’s athletic coach, who is a big rugby fan.
Barrett was at the Strasbourg men’s French Cup win over Monaco the night Ireland were beaten at Stade de France, keeping an eye out for score updates, and has been reminded of the result ever since.
But there’s an opportunity for swift revenge as her own Irish side open their 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday week.
“I’m hoping we can get a good result against France, so I can have something to bring back again,” Barrett laughs over the phone with The 42.
The Donegal native made the move to top-flight Strasbourg from Belgian side Standard Liège in mid-January, and has settled well on and off the pitch. It was hectic early on, finding accommodation while navigating three-match weeks, but she’s happy in her new surroundings.
Two goals in four games – including the winner off the bench on her debut as Strasbourg reached their first-ever French Cup quarter-final – have certainly helped.
But leaving Liège after two and a half seasons, where she was club captain and “joined at the hip” with fellow Irish internationals Claire O’Riordan and Aoife Colvill, was difficult.
Barrett (left) with Aoife Colvill and Claire O'Riordan. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“I kind of just got to a stage where I think that I needed to make a step to better myself,” Barrett explains, detailing financial difficulties and managerial change at Liège.
“To be honest, I just thought it was an opportunity too good to turn down.”
“When I was home at Christmas, while speaking to a couple of clubs, I said to my uncle, ‘If the two girls weren’t there, it would be such an easier decision to make,’” the 30-year-old recalls. “I think that kind of played on me a wee bit.
“I think there was an element of guilt, of feeling that I was leaving the team stuck, even though that’s not really the way you should look at it. I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as a selfish person, but in football, sometimes you have to make selfish decisions. This was definitely a selfish decision that I made, but at the same time, I can’t have any regrets looking back on decisions I’ve made over my career.
“Initially, when I went to Belgium, there was a lot of talk, ‘Is the league good enough? Is it where international players should be playing?’ In my head, it’s been probably singly the best move I’ve made, because it got me back playing regular football again, scoring again, the confidence was there.
“When I moved to Liège, I had maybe one club looking at me before I went. Over the last couple of years, there’s been more and more clubs asking the question about me, and I think that that shows me that the league isn’t the question. It’s that you need to be playing, you need to be scoring. Thankfully, I’ve been able to do all those things.”
Barrett has never been afraid to deviate from the norm, carving out an impressive career on the continent since departing Peamount United in 2019, first in Germany with FC Köln and Turbine Potsdam, then Belgium, and now France.
The French Première Ligue, hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for Irish talent. Niamh Fahey (Bordeaux), Stephanie Roche (ASPTT Albi), Courtney Brosnan and Kyra Carusa (both Le Havre) have had fleeting stints in the past decade, while Anne O’Brien was a trailblazer at Stade de Reims back in the 1970s. But the UK has generally been preferred.
In action for Standard Liège. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Barrett was aware of her Irish predecessors in France, but didn’t necessarily reach out to them. In tune with the league while based nearby, she spoke to former Liège teammate Mariam Toloba, who moved to Nantes during the summer.
The picture that Strasbourg – home of another Irish player, Andrew Omobomidele – presented was appealing, too. Promoted from the second division two years ago, Le Racing stayed up “by the skin of their teeth” last season and are sitting exactly mid-table in sixth currently.
Owned by BlueCo alongside Chelsea, plans are big and bold. “The club want to invest in the women’s department,” Barrett picks up.
“They want to push on and try close the gap to the top teams, but at the same time, the likes of Lyon (who have won 17 of the last 18 league titles) and PSG (2021 champions) are probably still years ahead of a lot of the clubs here. For all the other clubs, it’s just trying to kind of bridge that gap.
“The league is a higher step than what I was playing in. The players, the technical ability, the speed of play, is much higher. The quality of players as well is much, much higher. Even the so-called ‘lesser teams’ have a lot of really, really good footballers. I don’t think that there’s necessarily such thing as an easy week for anybody. It’s definitely a league that has improved greatly over the last few years.
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“It’s a completely different way of playing. I found in Belgium, it was quite transitional at times, whereas here it’s more of a controlled build-up, but the speed of play is really, really quick. You don’t really have time to take three, four or five touches on the ball and move again. You’ll immediately have pressure. Even the first couple of days of training, I was like, ‘I definitely need a couple of weeks to get used to this.’
“But getting in and playing straight away has been brilliant. Luckily, there’s been goals scored as well, and I take a lot of confidence from that.”
Celebrating Ireland's playoff win over Belgium in November. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
While the football contrasts, the lifestyle is similar across the border. No major culture shock. Barrett’s new apartment is a 10-minute cycle from the training ground on the south side of the city.
“This is not in any way an insult to Belgium, but I think the city in Strasbourg is a much nicer city than it was in Liège.
“Being around French-speaking people for the last couple of seasons, that has definitely helped with integration. There’s a group of us on the team, we call ourselves ‘the foreigners’, that have our French class twice a week.
“Even though French was the language in Belgium, there was a lot of English-speaking going around, so you probably didn’t have as much responsibility to pick it up as quickly as possible, whereas now you’re being immersed in it and the services are provided for you to actually learn the language.”
The 42 mentions a clip of Barrett speaking French in a recent press conference. “We’re trying anyway,” she grins, telling of how the media handler encouraged her to give it a go and incorporate a few words.
“French in a Donegal accent is not the most beautiful or sexy language, the way it is when the French speak it! But I think it’s important to try. They respect you for it.”
Amber Barrett & Vincent Nogueira nous parle de l’adverse abordent la rencontre de demain face au DFCO 🎙️
— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace Féminines (@RCSA_Feminines) January 30, 2026
Housing the European Parliament and Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg is an international melting pot and has a strong Irish community. Barrett hasn’t seen much of that, and is yet to grace an Irish bar.
Away from the 24/7 company of O’Riordan and Colvill, ‘the foreigners’ have been great as they help one another to integrate through activities and social networking.
“In general, the life in Belgium and France isn’t massively different, to be honest. There’s definitely a good few coffee spots here as well, which is very important. I think when you find your coffee places, you’re probably more settled than you are anywhere else!”
Attention soon turns to Ireland’s 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign, which they open against France at Tallaght Stadium on 3 March, before facing another heavyweight in the Netherlands four days later.
Barrett won’t meet any teammates: there are no French senior internationals at Strasbourg currently, though some players are involved with the U23 team, which the Irishwoman says she sees the benefits of.
Full focus is on Tallaght, but Barrett points out that she recently played at the Grenoble stadium that will host the return tie in June, Stade des Alpes.
“The build-up has been quiet enough, but it’s very exciting,” she says.
“Obviously, being familiar with a lot of the French players, you’ve a lot of them playing in Lyon, Paris FC and PSG. It’s exciting for me to be here and be familiar with the people you’re going to be playing against.”
That familiarity applies across the board, with Ireland and France meeting three times in the past three years. Les Bleus, ranked seventh in the world rankings, won twice: 3-0 in a 2023 World Cup warm-up friendly and 1-0 in their opening Euro 2025 qualifier, before Ireland stunned them 3-1 in the reverse fixture at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
In action against Griedge Mbock Bathy in Metz in 2024. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Although France fielded an understrength team for that game, having already qualified and in preparation for the Olympics, it was a huge result for the Girls In Green. Strasbourg’s new number 10 is quick to refer to that, as Carla Ward’s side embrace the underdogs tag.
“As the result in Cork showed, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Barrett, scorer of the famous goal that secured historic 2023 World Cup qualification, concludes.
“On your day, if you do everything right, the result can go your way. It’s been very positive the last few results. I know there was the technical defeat in Belgium, but I think over the two legs, we were definitely the stronger of the two. We were probably going into that as underdogs as well. I think we’ve shown the results over the last year, year and a half, with Carla have been really, really positive.
“We have to be going into this group wanting to win and get as many points on the board as we can. They’re going to be difficult games, but on our day, we shouldn’t fear anybody, and I think that’s definitely been a characteristic that we’ve had over the last year and a bit. It’s been really enjoyable in that sense.
“Anything can happen in football. It will be great to be bringing everybody to Tallaght and hopefully getting a good result to start off the campaign.”
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Amber Barrett's new life in Strasbourg: 'French in a Donegal accent is not the most sexy!'
AMBER BARRETT IS still trying to live down Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to France at her new club RC Strasbourg – but is hoping to get her own back over the coming weeks.
The Irish striker had a “wee bet going on” with Strasbourg’s athletic coach, who is a big rugby fan.
Barrett was at the Strasbourg men’s French Cup win over Monaco the night Ireland were beaten at Stade de France, keeping an eye out for score updates, and has been reminded of the result ever since.
But there’s an opportunity for swift revenge as her own Irish side open their 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday week.
“I’m hoping we can get a good result against France, so I can have something to bring back again,” Barrett laughs over the phone with The 42.
The Donegal native made the move to top-flight Strasbourg from Belgian side Standard Liège in mid-January, and has settled well on and off the pitch. It was hectic early on, finding accommodation while navigating three-match weeks, but she’s happy in her new surroundings.
Two goals in four games – including the winner off the bench on her debut as Strasbourg reached their first-ever French Cup quarter-final – have certainly helped.
But leaving Liège after two and a half seasons, where she was club captain and “joined at the hip” with fellow Irish internationals Claire O’Riordan and Aoife Colvill, was difficult.
“I kind of just got to a stage where I think that I needed to make a step to better myself,” Barrett explains, detailing financial difficulties and managerial change at Liège.
“To be honest, I just thought it was an opportunity too good to turn down.”
“When I was home at Christmas, while speaking to a couple of clubs, I said to my uncle, ‘If the two girls weren’t there, it would be such an easier decision to make,’” the 30-year-old recalls. “I think that kind of played on me a wee bit.
“I think there was an element of guilt, of feeling that I was leaving the team stuck, even though that’s not really the way you should look at it. I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as a selfish person, but in football, sometimes you have to make selfish decisions. This was definitely a selfish decision that I made, but at the same time, I can’t have any regrets looking back on decisions I’ve made over my career.
“Initially, when I went to Belgium, there was a lot of talk, ‘Is the league good enough? Is it where international players should be playing?’ In my head, it’s been probably singly the best move I’ve made, because it got me back playing regular football again, scoring again, the confidence was there.
“When I moved to Liège, I had maybe one club looking at me before I went. Over the last couple of years, there’s been more and more clubs asking the question about me, and I think that that shows me that the league isn’t the question. It’s that you need to be playing, you need to be scoring. Thankfully, I’ve been able to do all those things.”
Barrett has never been afraid to deviate from the norm, carving out an impressive career on the continent since departing Peamount United in 2019, first in Germany with FC Köln and Turbine Potsdam, then Belgium, and now France.
The French Première Ligue, hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for Irish talent. Niamh Fahey (Bordeaux), Stephanie Roche (ASPTT Albi), Courtney Brosnan and Kyra Carusa (both Le Havre) have had fleeting stints in the past decade, while Anne O’Brien was a trailblazer at Stade de Reims back in the 1970s. But the UK has generally been preferred.
Barrett was aware of her Irish predecessors in France, but didn’t necessarily reach out to them. In tune with the league while based nearby, she spoke to former Liège teammate Mariam Toloba, who moved to Nantes during the summer.
The picture that Strasbourg – home of another Irish player, Andrew Omobomidele – presented was appealing, too. Promoted from the second division two years ago, Le Racing stayed up “by the skin of their teeth” last season and are sitting exactly mid-table in sixth currently.
Owned by BlueCo alongside Chelsea, plans are big and bold. “The club want to invest in the women’s department,” Barrett picks up.
“They want to push on and try close the gap to the top teams, but at the same time, the likes of Lyon (who have won 17 of the last 18 league titles) and PSG (2021 champions) are probably still years ahead of a lot of the clubs here. For all the other clubs, it’s just trying to kind of bridge that gap.
“The league is a higher step than what I was playing in. The players, the technical ability, the speed of play, is much higher. The quality of players as well is much, much higher. Even the so-called ‘lesser teams’ have a lot of really, really good footballers. I don’t think that there’s necessarily such thing as an easy week for anybody. It’s definitely a league that has improved greatly over the last few years.
“It’s a completely different way of playing. I found in Belgium, it was quite transitional at times, whereas here it’s more of a controlled build-up, but the speed of play is really, really quick. You don’t really have time to take three, four or five touches on the ball and move again. You’ll immediately have pressure. Even the first couple of days of training, I was like, ‘I definitely need a couple of weeks to get used to this.’
“But getting in and playing straight away has been brilliant. Luckily, there’s been goals scored as well, and I take a lot of confidence from that.”
While the football contrasts, the lifestyle is similar across the border. No major culture shock. Barrett’s new apartment is a 10-minute cycle from the training ground on the south side of the city.
“This is not in any way an insult to Belgium, but I think the city in Strasbourg is a much nicer city than it was in Liège.
“Being around French-speaking people for the last couple of seasons, that has definitely helped with integration. There’s a group of us on the team, we call ourselves ‘the foreigners’, that have our French class twice a week.
“Even though French was the language in Belgium, there was a lot of English-speaking going around, so you probably didn’t have as much responsibility to pick it up as quickly as possible, whereas now you’re being immersed in it and the services are provided for you to actually learn the language.”
The 42 mentions a clip of Barrett speaking French in a recent press conference. “We’re trying anyway,” she grins, telling of how the media handler encouraged her to give it a go and incorporate a few words.
“French in a Donegal accent is not the most beautiful or sexy language, the way it is when the French speak it! But I think it’s important to try. They respect you for it.”
Housing the European Parliament and Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg is an international melting pot and has a strong Irish community. Barrett hasn’t seen much of that, and is yet to grace an Irish bar.
Away from the 24/7 company of O’Riordan and Colvill, ‘the foreigners’ have been great as they help one another to integrate through activities and social networking.
“In general, the life in Belgium and France isn’t massively different, to be honest. There’s definitely a good few coffee spots here as well, which is very important. I think when you find your coffee places, you’re probably more settled than you are anywhere else!”
Attention soon turns to Ireland’s 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign, which they open against France at Tallaght Stadium on 3 March, before facing another heavyweight in the Netherlands four days later.
Barrett won’t meet any teammates: there are no French senior internationals at Strasbourg currently, though some players are involved with the U23 team, which the Irishwoman says she sees the benefits of.
Full focus is on Tallaght, but Barrett points out that she recently played at the Grenoble stadium that will host the return tie in June, Stade des Alpes.
“The build-up has been quiet enough, but it’s very exciting,” she says.
“Obviously, being familiar with a lot of the French players, you’ve a lot of them playing in Lyon, Paris FC and PSG. It’s exciting for me to be here and be familiar with the people you’re going to be playing against.”
That familiarity applies across the board, with Ireland and France meeting three times in the past three years. Les Bleus, ranked seventh in the world rankings, won twice: 3-0 in a 2023 World Cup warm-up friendly and 1-0 in their opening Euro 2025 qualifier, before Ireland stunned them 3-1 in the reverse fixture at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Although France fielded an understrength team for that game, having already qualified and in preparation for the Olympics, it was a huge result for the Girls In Green. Strasbourg’s new number 10 is quick to refer to that, as Carla Ward’s side embrace the underdogs tag.
“As the result in Cork showed, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Barrett, scorer of the famous goal that secured historic 2023 World Cup qualification, concludes.
“On your day, if you do everything right, the result can go your way. It’s been very positive the last few results. I know there was the technical defeat in Belgium, but I think over the two legs, we were definitely the stronger of the two. We were probably going into that as underdogs as well. I think we’ve shown the results over the last year, year and a half, with Carla have been really, really positive.
“We have to be going into this group wanting to win and get as many points on the board as we can. They’re going to be difficult games, but on our day, we shouldn’t fear anybody, and I think that’s definitely been a characteristic that we’ve had over the last year and a bit. It’s been really enjoyable in that sense.
“Anything can happen in football. It will be great to be bringing everybody to Tallaght and hopefully getting a good result to start off the campaign.”
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