THERE ARE CURRENTLY 11 Irish players on the books of Women’s Super League [WSL] sides for the 2021/22 English top-flight season.
Six of those are at Birmingham City, where Louise Quinn is captain. Then, there’s one at each of Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton, and Reading.
Nine of the 11 are in Vera Pauw’s latest 27-strong Girls In Green squad, due to report into camp tomorrow ahead of their international friendly against Australia in Tallaght Stadium next Tuesday [KO 7pm, live on RTÉ 2].
More on that – and the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign – below, but first, here’s a closer look at the 11 in action in the WSL this season.
Arsenal
Katie McCabe
Ireland’s captain and leader, McCabe has established herself as a vital cog for Arsenal over the past couple of seasons – as well as one of the best in the WSL.
A world-class left-sided player, the Dubliner loves popping up with goals and assists, and hopes to lead Ireland to a first-ever major tournament sooner rather than later.
Aston Villa
Ruesha Littlejohn
Littlejohn’s career hasn’t exactly been straightforward, from being in and out of the international set-up to her lengthy list of clubs and rotten luck with injuries.
Pauw has given her opportunities of late and she’s taken them with both hands. The Glasgow native will now hope to hit a consistent run of form at new club Villa after crossing the divide from local rivals Birmingham City.
Birmingham City
Louise Quinn
The fact that Birmingham made Quinn their captain for her first season at the club tells you all you need to know about her.
The Wicklow centre-half is a true leader and a quality defender – an ever-present for the Girls In Green. She’ll be looking to drive on in her first season back in the WSL after a short stint in Italy.
Harriet Scott
Scott makes a welcome return to the Ireland squad this window, having balanced her football with medical studies and work on the NHS frontline through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2018 FAI Women’s International Player of the Year is a teak-tough full-back, and has impressed at the Blues through her four seasons to date.
Jamie Finn
Finn is finding her feet across the water, having just signed her first professional contract. She’s shown just how good of a player she is week in, week out with Shelbourne in the Women’s National League [WNL] over the past few years, so she’s backed to take it all in her stride.
The 23-year-old has really announced herself on the international stage recently too, her Player-of-the-Match performance against Denmark as she kept global superstar Pernille Harder quiet certainly outlining her credentials.
Emily Whelan
Another to make the move to Birmingham from Shelbourne in recent weeks, Whelan is a lively attacking player – and still only 19.
Since making her Ireland senior debut at the age of 16, the Dubliner has gone from strength to strength, and will now hope to take her career to the next level across the water and on the international front.
Eleanor Ryan-Doyle
Ryan-Doyle is a goal machine. She’s rattled the net countless times for Peamount United through her many, many years at the club, and will hope to do the same through this new chapter in England.
Many argue that the 23-year-old has been overlooked on the international scene in recent times, so she’ll hope that this move will propel her further onto Pauw’s radar.
Marie Hourihan
The only other Irish WSL player along with Ryan-Doyle not included in the squad this window, Hourihan has fallen out of favour over the past few months.
Ireland’s number one under Colin Bell, she continued to hold that mantle through Pauw’s early days, though injury stalled her progress and opened the door for others. After a club move from Portugal closer to home, she’ll hope to drive on and put herself back into contention.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Megan Connolly
Cork midfielder Megan Connolly has been a mainstay for both Brighton and Ireland over the past few years. Particularly strong defensively, the 24-year-old has mainly played the role of CDM for Pauw’s side.
Her position will be pivotal through the upcoming campaign, and the upward trajectory she’s enjoyed at the Seagulls is certainly a solid foundation.
Everton
Courtney Brosnan
US-born goalkeeper Brosnan joined Everton from West Ham this summer, and she’ll now look to make a bid for the number one shirt.
One of the most competitive positions on the Irish team, she’s held it here and there as the GK union battle it out for the top spot.
Reading
Grace Moloney
Moloney has proven herself as Vera Pauw’s first-choice goalkeeper of late, producing some big performances in recent months.
The Slough-born 28-year-old has been at the club since she was nine, nailing down the Royals number one jersey with confident, assured displays and top-drawer saves.
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Switching the focus back to the Ireland squad named to face Australia next week, the breakdown of players to leagues is as follows:
9 – FA Women’s Super League (England)6 – Women’s National League (Ireland)3 – Scottish Women’s Premier League (Scotland)
3 – USA scholarship students
2 – FA Women’s Championship (England)
2 – National Women’s Soccer League (America)
1 – Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany)
1 – Elitedivisionen (Denmark)
That’s one third of the team playing in the WSL.
The six domestic Women’s National League [WNL] players included are goalkeeper Eve Badana (DLR Waves), Savannah McCarthy (Galway WFC), Áine O’Gorman (Peamount United), Ciara Grant, Jessica Ziu and Saoirse Noonan (all Shelbourne).
Given a spate of recent departures from the WNL, Peamount United boss James O’Callaghan shared his thoughts on the “impact” it’s having over the weekend.
“It’s great for those players that they’re getting personal contracts but personally, it’s disappointing to see them leave the league,” he said.
“I think all our best players should be staying in the league, but in order to make sure that happens, I think we need to go semi-pro, we need to start paying the players to keep them in the country and make this league one of the best leagues in Europe.”
Glasgow City trio Clare Shine, Niamh Farrelly and Claire Walsh are the Scottish-based players included in this squad, while three rising stars on scholarship in the US – Éabha O’Mahony, Roma McLaughlin and Heather Payne – get the nod.
Staying stateside, North Carolina Courage duo Denise O’Sullivan and Diane Caldwell will also be in action, with two FA Women’s Championship players in Niamh Fahey (Liverpool) and Rianna Jarrett (London City Lionesses) in there too.
[Leanne Kiernan and Megan Campbell also play their football with the Reds in the second-tier, but neither are involved this time around.]
And two players on the books of clubs in mainland Europe round off the 27: strikers Amber Barrett and Kyra Carusa, who play in Germany and Denmark respectively.
All eyes are on the pitch now, after an exciting few weeks for Irish women’s football in which equal pay was announced for senior men’s and women’s teams, and Sky came on board as the primary sponsor of the women’s team.
With their first game of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign against Georgia rescheduled, the Australia friendly is the focal point of this window.
The Matildas – led by Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr – are ranked 11th in the Fifa world rankings and are recent Olympic semi-finalists, with Ireland 33rd and yet to reach a first major tournament.
Fans return to Tallaght to support the side, as they hope to put an end to a seven-match winless run — but perhaps, more importantly, warm up for the duels against higher-ranked Sweden and Finland in their qualifying group in late October.
