ANNA PATTEN may be an unfamiliar name to Irish football fans, but the player has the potential to be an important member of Eileen Gleeson’s squad in years to come.
The defender comes from Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England, and qualifies through her Donegal-born grandfather and Galway-born grandmother.
Patten grew up supporting Arsenal and signed for the London club as a 12-year-old before helping the Gunners win back-to-back FA Youth Cups in 2015 and 2016.
After successfully coming through the academy, she made her first-team debut in 2016, she played every game in the Spring Series that season. Another Irish defender, Louise Quinn, would join the club a year later.
Despite the first-team breakthrough, Patten left Arsenal in 2017, travelling to America, where she spent four years playing and studying.
She spent two years at the University of South Carolina and then two years at Florida State University, where other Irish players, including Megan Connolly, Heather Payne and Megan Campbell have also obtained scholarships.
Patten made over 50 appearances Stateside with Florida State Seminoles and South Carolina Gamecocks, winning the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship with the former in 2018.
After graduating with a degree in sociology, Patten returned to England and re-signed for Arsenal, linking up with future Ireland teammate Katie McCabe among others.
Around this period, she was heavily involved in the England underage setup, earning caps at U15, U17, U19, U20, U21 and U23 level.
She captained and played for England U23s as recently as November 2021 while she was a key player as the Three Lions won bronze medals at the U17 Euros and U20 World Cup.
Patten scored two goals in 31 games for Arsenal, but her appearances were scattered across several seasons.
Only after joining Aston Villa, initially on loan, did she establish herself as a first-team regular, helping them secure a fifth-place finish in the Women’s Super League last season.
Patten impressed to the extent that she earned a permanent move to the Midlands club last July.
So far, the 24-year-old has played in all 17 games for the side who are currently seventh in the WSL, scoring in their 3-2 win over West Ham in November.
Her versatility is one of the reasons why she will be an asset to Ireland, as Patten is capable of playing right-back, centre-back and holding midfielder.
Patten has spent most of this season, as the right-sided centre-half in a back four, though in recent weeks, Villa have reverted to a back three and she has become the most central defender.
Ireland have also tended to alternate between a back three and four under Gleeson, so these systems are nothing new to the latest recruit.
Patten may not necessarily be thrown straight into the deep end against sides of the calibre of England and France.
The experienced trio of Louis Quinn, Diane Caldwell and Niamh Fahey were also selected in today’s squad.
All three have over 100 caps for Ireland, though at 33, 35 and 36 respectively, they are closer to the end of their career than the start.
With Patten also selected alongside West Ham’s Jessie Stapleton (19), Man United’s Aoife Mannion (28) and Celtic’s Caitlin Hayes (28), the future makeup of Ireland’s backline is becoming clearer.
Moreover, defence is an area of real depth with Man City’s Tara O’Hanlon unavailable due to injury. In addition, Hayley Nolan and Claire O’Riordan have been omitted despite playing well at club level recently.
Patten must now wait to receive international clearance from Fifa so is not guaranteed to be available for the upcoming Euro 2025 qualifiers against England and France but will link up with the camp for now.
Whenever her debut takes place, Gleeson is confident the player can swiftly adapt to her new surroundings after speaking on an “ongoing basis” to Patten.
“Anna would be a great addition to the squad, playing at a really high level — top five league in the world,” the Irish boss told reporters today.
“Strong, competitive, good pathway through her youth with Arsenal and then into Aston Villa. So she can bring a lot of good characteristics to our team.”
