MEGAN CAMPBELL HAS announced her retirement from football.
The Drogheda woman earned 57 Ireland caps and had a successful and long-spanning club career.
Campbell, 32, started in senior football with St Francis before joining Raheny United in the Women’s Premier Division.
In the 2012/13 season she helped Raheny United win their first league title, lift the FAI Cup and was named on the Team of the Season.
By then Campbell had already played at senior level for Ireland. In 2011 she made her WNT debut, coming on as a sub against Switzerland in Richmond Park.
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She made her first senior start in the European Championship Qualifier loss to France in Cork in the next month and then scored her first goal in a Cyprus Cup win over Northern Ireland in March 2013.
Thank-you football for all you’ve given me and for the people you’ve allowed me to meet along the way
To the girl with a big dream. Thank-you for believing in yourself and pushing your body & mind beyond limits for your love of the game! It was worth it & I’m proud of you 🤍 pic.twitter.com/TBK0QA819B
Campbell scored four senior goals overall, before earning her 50th cap in May 2024 against Sweden in a Women’s European Championship Qualifier in the Aviva Stadium.
In 2017 she was nominated for the Senior Women’s International Player of the Year and went on to play a hugely important role in helping Ireland qualify for the 2023 World Cup, only to miss out on selection due to injury.
After spending time in SETU Carlow, Campbell enjoyed a college career in the United States with Florida State University before joining Manchester City in 2016, where she won the FA Women’s Cup in 2020. She went on to achieve promotion to the English Women’s Super League with both Liverpool and London City Lionesses, while also featuring for Everton in between.
In April 2025, Campbell broke the Guinness World Record for the longest throw-in for a female footballer after launching the ball 37.55 metres.
“It’s been a while coming.. but it’s something that I’ve struggled accepting for a long time now,” Campbell said on her retirement. “Football has been my life for over 25 years. It has given me so many amazing opportunities, allowed me to travel the world and to meet some of the best people. It has helped me to become the person I am today.
“Unfortunately, I knew that playing the sport I love, and have given everything to, would have to end some day. I just never wanted to believe that it would have come this soon.
“To all those who have helped shape my career and push me beyond my limits, you know who you are . . . thank you.
“To Ireland, this is the hardest one to accept. Representing a beautiful nation of people with a passion and determination to fight for their country and for one another meant more than anything to me. For those who came before and drove its existence, to those who stand present today lucky enough to pull on the jersey and to those yet to do so, I envy you.
“Representing my country was the single biggest achievement in life. It is an honour that is above all else for me and my family. Every time I got to have that number three on my back, to sing Amhrán na bhFiann, to play alongside such committed teammates, to show that Ireland can compete with any nation and to test myself against world class players, it meant so much. It is what I’ll miss the most.”
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'Football has been my life for over 25 years' - Megan Campbell announces retirement
MEGAN CAMPBELL HAS announced her retirement from football.
The Drogheda woman earned 57 Ireland caps and had a successful and long-spanning club career.
Campbell, 32, started in senior football with St Francis before joining Raheny United in the Women’s Premier Division.
In the 2012/13 season she helped Raheny United win their first league title, lift the FAI Cup and was named on the Team of the Season.
By then Campbell had already played at senior level for Ireland. In 2011 she made her WNT debut, coming on as a sub against Switzerland in Richmond Park.
She made her first senior start in the European Championship Qualifier loss to France in Cork in the next month and then scored her first goal in a Cyprus Cup win over Northern Ireland in March 2013.
Campbell scored four senior goals overall, before earning her 50th cap in May 2024 against Sweden in a Women’s European Championship Qualifier in the Aviva Stadium.
In 2017 she was nominated for the Senior Women’s International Player of the Year and went on to play a hugely important role in helping Ireland qualify for the 2023 World Cup, only to miss out on selection due to injury.
After spending time in SETU Carlow, Campbell enjoyed a college career in the United States with Florida State University before joining Manchester City in 2016, where she won the FA Women’s Cup in 2020. She went on to achieve promotion to the English Women’s Super League with both Liverpool and London City Lionesses, while also featuring for Everton in between.
In April 2025, Campbell broke the Guinness World Record for the longest throw-in for a female footballer after launching the ball 37.55 metres.
“It’s been a while coming.. but it’s something that I’ve struggled accepting for a long time now,” Campbell said on her retirement. “Football has been my life for over 25 years. It has given me so many amazing opportunities, allowed me to travel the world and to meet some of the best people. It has helped me to become the person I am today.
“Unfortunately, I knew that playing the sport I love, and have given everything to, would have to end some day. I just never wanted to believe that it would have come this soon.
“To all those who have helped shape my career and push me beyond my limits, you know who you are . . . thank you.
“To Ireland, this is the hardest one to accept. Representing a beautiful nation of people with a passion and determination to fight for their country and for one another meant more than anything to me. For those who came before and drove its existence, to those who stand present today lucky enough to pull on the jersey and to those yet to do so, I envy you.
“Representing my country was the single biggest achievement in life. It is an honour that is above all else for me and my family. Every time I got to have that number three on my back, to sing Amhrán na bhFiann, to play alongside such committed teammates, to show that Ireland can compete with any nation and to test myself against world class players, it meant so much. It is what I’ll miss the most.”
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Megan Campbell Soccer Wave Goodbye WNT