IT WILL BE four years in November since Aoibheann Clancy won her first and so far only Ireland cap in a friendly win over Morocco.

Yet the Limerick native is a valued squad member, regularly earning call-ups from Carla Ward.

The 22-year-old is among the most highly regarded players in the Women’s Premier Division, lining out for Shelbourne since 2025, having made over 100 appearances for Wexford Youths between 2020 and 2024.

She is also the domestic league’s only representative in the 25-player squad in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Netherlands and France.

One reason Clancy has chosen to stay in Ireland is that she prioritises her education, recently submitting her thesis as part of a Health and Performance Science degree at University College Dublin (UCD).

Now that she has completed her education, the Kilbeheny native would be open to a transfer abroad and turning professional.

Asked whether she had opportunities to move in the past, Clancy explains: “There were a few bits here and there, but nothing too solid.”

For now, though, her main focus is on helping Shelbourne, who sit five points adrift of leaders Galway United after eight games played, and Ireland.

Clancy acknowledges there is a “jump” between League of Ireland and international football, but is optimistic she can repay Ward’s faith and cope with the transition if the opportunity arises.

“I think it’s also a great privilege to be in the squad and representing the League of Ireland. I think there is a sense of responsibility that I’ve come in and shown what the League of Ireland is about, and that we’re able to come in and compete at this level,” she adds.

With her education secured, Clancy can now focus fully on football, and while she believes there has been significant growth in the league, there remains room for improvement.

“Within the League of Ireland, if players go to college during the day, if players are working 9–5 jobs, shift jobs, really demanding things going on during the day, and then we’re training in the evening, [it’s challenging].

“So if you had won the lottery, you could pump that money into paying players that would go fully professional. That’s the most obvious next step. You can get in more training and then pump it into facilities and resources that the players can have.

“The players are there, I think it’s just the time and resources that are the difference between the likes of League of Ireland and Championship level.”

But while Clancy may not officially be a professional footballer, she certainly behaves like one.

The midfielder has been doing as much extra work as possible to condition herself for elite football, making good use of her UCD Ad Astra Academy Elite Sports Scholarship.

In addition to training with her club, Clancy would frequent the college’s high-performance gym, regularly training on her own on the pitch at UCD, taking shots at goal or banging the ball off a wall.

“Nothing crazy really, just working on the basics,” she says. “I’m lucky enough that within my college schedule, I actually did have the time to do that. Trying to max my physical ability and bridge that gap. The contact hours aren’t there in the league, but the quality of players is really good. So trying to get the most out of myself physically and then doing my best in training as well.

“It would probably be Monday through to the game Saturday. Obviously, your load has to be managed as well. There’s no fun going out hell for leather every day. Then you’d be doing recovery on Sunday and repeating it all.”

And if all goes to plan, Clancy will become the latest in a long line of Premier Division graduates to star for Ireland.

“Even if you look at the squad here today, a lot of those girls have originally come from the League of Ireland. So there are tons of players within the league that have gone on to play in England, play in the squad and have had unbelievable careers with Ireland. I think they all owe their careers to the league.”