A LITTLE OVER 10 years ago, a certain goal brought the eyes of the world to Irish women’s football.
A Peamount United player by the name of Stephanie Roche lit up the Women’s National League with a wonderstrike, which subsequently went viral and was nominated for the Puskas Award.
The grainy footage was originally uploaded by a certain Eileen Gleeson.
She was Peamount manager at the time, and can be seen on the sideline celebrating.
Yesterday, Gleeson was unveiled as the new Republic of Ireland women’s head coach after a successful interim reign.
She had repeatedly ruled herself out as Vera Pauw’s permanent successor, keeping a focus on her role as FAI Head of Women and Girls’ Football, but had a change of heart and eventually landed her “dream job” at the third attempt.
The 51-year-old Dubliner had previously labelled the Head of Women and Girls’ Football post that, but could not be happier with this one.
“This is also a dream job,” she told The 42. “If you look back on my career, I have always had that dual pathway of a development role and a coaching role. Those parallels have always been there.
“I have been involved in this process before, twice previously, so this is not new that I wanted this role. I have engaged in professional development that would lead me to this role, in terms of coaching and academic and my experience.”
Gleeson’s love and passion for Irish women’s football shines through in every word. After her playing days with Blacklions, Ballymun United and Hammond Celtic in the 1990s, she took her first steps into coaching in the Civil Service League and then the Dublin Women’s Soccer League.
From Ballymun to St James’ Gate, the 51-year-old made a real name for herself at Peamount. She first took charge in 2006 and worked with the likes of Louise Quinn, Denise O’Sullivan, Áine O’Gorman and Katie Taylor, steering them to a famous treble in 2010 and back-to-back Champions League campaigns.
They are some of the fondest memories that spring to mind when she thinks back on her journey to this point.
“For me, there have been so many moments and often it transcends the actual football and the game. I’ve had so many moments that would blow your mind. When Chloe Mustaki stepped onto the pitch after recovering from illness. When players are called up to the international squad.
“I can remember 28 years ago driving players to training when Noel King was the manager because they didn’t have a lift to get there. So, you were nearly like their second parent, you experience that with them. Some of those players are still playing now.
“I would see the unbelievable work that the clubs do without always having the capacity and resources to deliver what they’d like to deliver. Turning out week in and week out.
“The first qualification with Peamount for the Champions League, we never expected that. We were as green as the grass, we were in this tournament but you are learning all the time.
All of those moments, I was always super proud. It was always about volunteers. I’d a moped and a bag of balls at St James’ Gate. At that time we had Katie Taylor, Sue Byrne, players that are stalwarts of the game now and we trained on a pitch that was 20 yards by 30 yards, you’d roll your ankle just walking on it.
“All of these things, they build your love. They are fun when you look back on it. That’s where you build your resourcefulness. We outperformed in the Champions League. We didn’t know how to do a media interview, we had not a clue.
“I want the story to continue with this team. I have always loved women’s football, I’ve huge respect for the clubs and the capacity and how they commit to it. We need to develop the game, and we all know that, but the love for the game shines through.”
From Ballymun United to the top job in Irish women’s football; St James’ Gate to the Aviva Stadium; a moped to a limousine almost.
“Incredible,” the Clondalkin native smiles.
“The thing that changes are the amount of resources that you had. I was always pushing for standards. People might think, ‘She is always moaning or always argumentative,’ but it was never for self gain, it was always to push standards for the girls and the game in Ireland. To see the game developing at the rate that it is is brilliant.”
After no shortage of success at Peamount, Gleeson headed for DLR Waves. There, she oversaw two second-place finishes and a pair of FAI Cup final appearances. She also completed her Uefa Pro Licence at the same time, and is one of just two Irish female holders alongside Sue Ronan.
Gleeson took a hiatus from coaching thereafter to fully focus on her studies. She did a Masters in Coaching and Exercise Science in UCD and undertook a PhD in Expert Decision-making in Football, with a focus on the elite women’s game.
Always learning, always growing.
“It wouldn’t be any surprise that I’d be a strong advocate for women and in sporting research, women are underrepresented. It was also from the players’ perspective. It was an area that hadn’t really been explored, so to do it on the women’s game was a no-brainer for me.
“It was always interesting continuing to learn with the coaching education and the academic education, I was really trying to have that holistic approach on and off the pitch and understanding why we need to do what we need to do.
“I have enjoyed my journey. It has been difficult at times. I was the only female for a million years on the coaching badges. But I think that gives you strength as well. It wasn’t a point of difference for me going through it. It’s only now that it’s the topical thing or there are other opportunities around. But I enjoyed my experiences and had really positive experiences. I think that’s where you build your character as well.”
A certain test was her time as Glasgow City manager. Having returned to coaching as Pauw’s assistant from 2019 to 2021, Gleeson moved across the water to Scotland. She failed to deliver instant silverware, with Glasgow enduring their first trophyless season in 17 years under her watch.
“Every experience is educational,” is how she reflects on that.
“Whether it’s in the Women’s National League, clubs that you are with, and then as assistant in the Women’s National Team — you learn different things, you learn things you would do again, things you wouldn’t do again, things with people around you, different infrastructure. From every environment, you learn something.”
Former USA mastermind Jill Ellis is the one coach she mentions when asked about those she admires.
“I have to say I am not really a fan girl,” she adds. “I don’t mean that disrespectfully. The only one I am a fangirl of is Micahel D Higgins. Love him.”
Gleeson has met Uachtarán na hÉireann before games through her time at the helm thus far, and that’s set to continue in 2024.
Two unsuccessful attempts did not deter her, and here she is, in the job she had always been working towards.
“I was also very happy in the Head of Women and Girls’ football role,” Gleeson concludes. “I was reconciled with that, I was happy.
“There was nothing negative around this. This opportunity presented itself pretty speedily and unexpectedly, so I was in it but I still had to get a feeling. It was all transitional, it was all change for the players as well.
“But from a personal point of view, I still had to see how I would do in that environment. I settled into it and thought, ‘Alright, this is where I’d like to be.’”
Nowhere else.
