REPUBLIC OF IRELAND women’s national team head coach Carla Ward has named her first squad, for the 2025 Uefa Nations League openers against Türkiye and Slovenia.
Charlton Athletic midfielder Melisa Filis has been called up for the first time after receiving Fifa international clearance. Filis qualifies to play for Ireland through her Mayo-born mother, who is from Knock.
Filis, 22, is from Luton and represented England at underage level.
“Mel’s family are Irish,” Ward told her squad announcement press conference this morning.
“She probably would have hoped to have had some involvement before, but obviously she’s gone through the England age groups, up until 23s just recently.
“(She offers) something a little bit different. She’s hard working, she’s aggressive, she’s front footed. Something a little bit different to maybe what we have. It’s an opportunity for her to come in.”
The remainder of the 23-player squad runs along expected lines. Ward was unable to call on Louise Quinn (hip flexor), Tara O’Hanlon (MCL), Lily Agg, Jamie Finn and Jess Ziu (ACL), while Niamh Fahey, Diane Caldwell and Julie-Ann Russell recently retired from international football.
Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion returns after missing the Euro 2025 play-off defeat to Wales due to injury. Lucy Quinn and Emily Murphy are both back in attack, but there is no room for in-form Celtic striker Saoirse Noonan.
Ward says Noonan is “very” close to be being involved again. “Even up to the last couple of days, she’s somebody that’s massively on the radar. She’s doing tremendously well and someone we’ve looked at. She will think she could have been in this squad and we feel she probably could have, but we’ve gone with a squad that we believe covers all bases. She’s not too far away at all.”
Ruesha Littlejohn, Grace Moloney and Marissa Sheva all return as free agents, while Izzy Atkinson gets the nod despite her ongoing absence at Crystal Palace.
Asked if having three unattached players on board is a concern, Ward said: “If it continued, there would be bigger question marks, but they’ve built up a lot of credit in terms of what they’ve done for the country.
“What I would say is all three are training at clubs at the moment (two in the Championship, one abroad), and I’d like to think that within the next few weeks, definitely two of them will be signed at a club.”
Katie McCabe, interestingly, was listed as a forward on a graphic on X, but is down as a defender in the FAI press release. Ward has previously hinted at the captain playing in a “different” position from her deep-lying left-back berth.
Katie McCabe. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“Katie is a top, top player. I said it playing against her. She’s a world-class left-back. She can play anywhere, but we’re going to utilise her to the best of her abilities within the system that I want to play, I think that will allow her to be a little bit more attacking, but look she’s a top player and we need her on the front foot. She creates a lot of problems going forward, she does that for Arsenal and that will be no different for us.”
Ireland open their Nations League, League B campaign with a home clash against Türkiye at Tallaght Stadium next Friday, 21 February. They then travel to Koper to face Slovenia the following Tuesday.
The squad will link up at FAI HQ on Sunday to begin preparations as they look to bounce back from their Euro 2025 qualification heartbreak.
The FAI say over 7,000 tickets are gone for the Türkiye game in Tallaght.
Ireland WNT squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic), Grace Moloney (Unattached)
Defenders: Heather Payne (Everton), Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland – on loan from West Ham United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Megan Campbell (London City Lionesses), Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
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Charlton's Melisa Filis called up as Carla Ward names first Ireland squad
LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND women’s national team head coach Carla Ward has named her first squad, for the 2025 Uefa Nations League openers against Türkiye and Slovenia.
Charlton Athletic midfielder Melisa Filis has been called up for the first time after receiving Fifa international clearance. Filis qualifies to play for Ireland through her Mayo-born mother, who is from Knock.
Filis, 22, is from Luton and represented England at underage level.
“Mel’s family are Irish,” Ward told her squad announcement press conference this morning.
“She probably would have hoped to have had some involvement before, but obviously she’s gone through the England age groups, up until 23s just recently.
“(She offers) something a little bit different. She’s hard working, she’s aggressive, she’s front footed. Something a little bit different to maybe what we have. It’s an opportunity for her to come in.”
The remainder of the 23-player squad runs along expected lines. Ward was unable to call on Louise Quinn (hip flexor), Tara O’Hanlon (MCL), Lily Agg, Jamie Finn and Jess Ziu (ACL), while Niamh Fahey, Diane Caldwell and Julie-Ann Russell recently retired from international football.
Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion returns after missing the Euro 2025 play-off defeat to Wales due to injury. Lucy Quinn and Emily Murphy are both back in attack, but there is no room for in-form Celtic striker Saoirse Noonan.
Ward says Noonan is “very” close to be being involved again. “Even up to the last couple of days, she’s somebody that’s massively on the radar. She’s doing tremendously well and someone we’ve looked at. She will think she could have been in this squad and we feel she probably could have, but we’ve gone with a squad that we believe covers all bases. She’s not too far away at all.”
Ruesha Littlejohn, Grace Moloney and Marissa Sheva all return as free agents, while Izzy Atkinson gets the nod despite her ongoing absence at Crystal Palace.
Asked if having three unattached players on board is a concern, Ward said: “If it continued, there would be bigger question marks, but they’ve built up a lot of credit in terms of what they’ve done for the country.
“What I would say is all three are training at clubs at the moment (two in the Championship, one abroad), and I’d like to think that within the next few weeks, definitely two of them will be signed at a club.”
Katie McCabe, interestingly, was listed as a forward on a graphic on X, but is down as a defender in the FAI press release. Ward has previously hinted at the captain playing in a “different” position from her deep-lying left-back berth.
“Katie is a top, top player. I said it playing against her. She’s a world-class left-back. She can play anywhere, but we’re going to utilise her to the best of her abilities within the system that I want to play, I think that will allow her to be a little bit more attacking, but look she’s a top player and we need her on the front foot. She creates a lot of problems going forward, she does that for Arsenal and that will be no different for us.”
Ward confirmed that U19 duo Katie Keane and Jess Fitzgerald will train with her senior side, with a development squad set to face their U19 outfit next Wednesday.
Ireland open their Nations League, League B campaign with a home clash against Türkiye at Tallaght Stadium next Friday, 21 February. They then travel to Koper to face Slovenia the following Tuesday.
The squad will link up at FAI HQ on Sunday to begin preparations as they look to bounce back from their Euro 2025 qualification heartbreak.
The FAI say over 7,000 tickets are gone for the Türkiye game in Tallaght.
Ireland WNT squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic), Grace Moloney (Unattached)
Defenders: Heather Payne (Everton), Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland – on loan from West Ham United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Megan Campbell (London City Lionesses), Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Ruesha Littlejohn (Unattached), Marissa Sheva (Unattached), Melisa Filis (Charlton Athletic)
Forwards: Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Izzy Atkinson (Crystal Palace), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Emily Murphy (Newcastle United).
- Updated 12.25pm with quotes from Carla Ward’s press conference.
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