I REMEMBER THE first Ireland game I covered.
Montenegro, June 2016, Tallaght Stadium. Straight out of college. The 42 bravely sent their new intern. Áine O’Gorman and Stephanie Roche both scored hat-tricks, but I can’t recall the finer details.
I remembered it as a friendly, but it was in fact a dead rubber Euro 2017 qualifier. I’d have to double check the score.
What I do know is how it made me feel. I loved it. I was hooked.
I only remember two people in the press box: myself and Aaron Clarke of The WNL Show, a good colleague and a better friend.
I recently dug out the attendance figure: 946.
Last night, 25,832 fans watched the heart-crushing Euro 2025 play-off second leg defeat to Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
Aaron was just in front of me in a full press box; professionalism required but emotion taking over at times.
The final whistle was like a dagger, Ireland’s Euros dream over.
The hurt will linger, the reality of the missed opportunity hitting even harder in the cold light of the next day.
***
Before last Friday’s first leg in Cardiff, I had dinner in the bar of my hotel.
A young girl was running around in full Ireland WNT kit. Shorts, socks, the lot. She was with her father, also wearing a bespoke WNT t-shirt, and she couldn’t hide her excitement for the game.
I smiled to myself, but also felt a weird sense of envy and perhaps even sadness. I wish it was like this when I was younger.
Not to complain. I had an ideal sporting childhood for the times: I played everything and I can’t thank my parents enough for all they did for me. My Dad brought me to the back end of every beyond to watch Cavan Ladies games no one else knew were on. The Irish women’s football team, though. They were a vaguely unknown quantity.
I have a hazy recollection of going to one game with my football team, perhaps in Richmond Park, but I don’t think I realised it was the Ireland women. Genuinely, the only memory I have is of a yellow ticket. I couldn’t even tell you what age I roughly was. I played to a decent level, but I didn’t know much about women’s football outside of my own bubble.
That Montenegro game was seminal for me, both professionally and personally.
I began covering the Irish team for The 42 from there. Selfishly, and perhaps wrongly, I feel like I have been on the journey with them.
I’ve guarded against becoming a cheerleader or a fan with a typewriter, but I do sense an inexplicable connection with the team. I absolutely love them.
Maybe it’s that little girl who grew up before women’s football hit the mainstream. Maybe it’s because they’re living out my dream, in a way. Perhaps it’s just a group of players that have captured hearts and minds representing our little country on the world stage.
Working the beat is a weird dynamic. I do my utmost to cover everything fairly and impartially; stay true to journalistic values.
But sometimes — just like last night — emotion takes over.
I’ll never forget the euphoric highs of Hampden Park, and Katie’s Olimpico at the World Cup. Banging the table in the press box, forgetting entirely where I was. The adventure of a lifetime in Australia, being overcome by tears the morning of the historic debut in Sydney. The magic in the air. Spine-tingling anthems, thousands upon thousands of fans, that first game at the Aviva.
The lows have been just as plentiful too. Liberty Hall. The Euro 2022 dream falling to pieces in Ukraine, reported on from the couch mid pandemic. Up The Ra overshadowing World Cup qualification. The fallout as Vera Pauw’s tenure came to an end.
There have been raw moments, but last night felt like rock bottom.
Of course, nothing compares to how the players, Eileen Gleeson and her staff must be feeling, but I can’t shake the sickening sense that our journey with the team — this team — is coming to a close. Hope springs eternal, but it’s certainly the end of a chapter.
This felt like a sliding doors moment. Qualify, and the voyage continues apace. More history written by reaching a first European Championships; a backing up of that maiden World Cup appearance. Momentum maintained and interest levels continuing to rise.
Instead, Ireland will watch Switzerland 2025 from afar with nothing but regret. The next qualification opportunity is for the 2027 World Cup.
There will be transition and change: Gleeson’s future is in the spotlight with her current contract coming to an end, while several players are in the latter stages of their careers.
The age profile of the squad, and mileage on the clock, suggests the end of an era. Niamh Fahey (37), Diane Caldwell (36) Louise Quinn, Ruesha Littlejohn (both 34) and Julie Ann-Russell (33) are among the cohort who will be questioning their involvement for the next campaign.
Ireland’s two biggest stars, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan, are 29 and 30, and quite a few others are around that age mark. O’Sullivan will be 33 when the 2027 World Cup comes around, 35 for Euro 2029. McCabe will be 31, then 33.
The window will close for this generation.
A comparative wilderness awaits in the Nations League next spring, with League B opposition Turkey, Slovenia and Greece a distant cry from the Englands, France and Swedens of late.
The fear is that the team, and Irish women’s football in general, will slip off. Hard-earned momentum ebbs away, heads turn elsewhere.
The fate of their rugby counterparts has been widely referenced: from Grand Slam success and World Cup impact to completely falling away from the mainstream. Thankfully, there has been a revival of late, but they spent many a year in the doldrums.
The Northern Ireland and Scottish women’s football teams are other closer examples, both failing to build on major tournament debuts. Ireland must avoid following suit.
Big picture development is in the spotlight now, and should remain. Through tears, Littlejohn passionately called for an overhaul on RTÉ post-match. Gleeson wouldn’t delve into it, but vowed Irish women’s football would “not stand still” as the sport booms worldwide.
Over to you, FAI.
It’s clear that lack of funding is a major issue, while there has been plenty of chat around a disconnect with the domestic league. Home-based training sessions, used to help bridge the gap, have been discontinued, while there’s ambiguity around the introduction of a much-needed U23 international team.
The general outlook right now is quite bleak, yet participation levels continue to rise at grassroots.
I am one of 45,000 women and girls registered as playing regular competitive football in Ireland. The number of kids has significantly increased, particularly since the World Cup.
The underage girls section at my own club, Kingscourt Harps AFC, is exploding. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there for me back in the day. I wish it was.
This team have talked a lot about legacy on their journey. This, indeed, is it. They have inspired so many girls to play football, and to dream.
I think of that young girl in her kit in Cardiff. Her generation has been inspired by this one, and their time is coming.
The hope is that their love remains. That, like me, they stay hooked.
If this missed opportunity is learned from, if the next generation is supported in a way that previous groups weren’t then maybe, just maybe, the pain of nights like last night was worthwhile.
The beginning of the end? Maybe, for some of the players. But thanks to their trailblazing deeds it may yet be looked back on as just the end of the beginning.
A great read
Great read.
Irish AFL national teams are playing today in European Championships. Search AFL Europe on YouTube for the free Live stream