JULIE-ANN RUSSELL IS putting her eight-month-old daughter, Rosie, down for a nap before The 42 is due to call.
“I’ll ring in 5-10 minutes,” she messages.
Three minutes later, the Ireland international and Galway United star is on the line.
“It’s been the quickest eight months of my life,” she begins, all set for the new League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division season.
Russell isn’t 100% sure what number this is for her personally, but we settle on 10. Ish.
She was at Peamount United for the inaugural season of 2011; missed four when she was in Australia’s professional A-League; and only returned for the latter stages of the 2023 campaign after giving birth to Rosie.
Time flies. It doesn’t feel like that long?
“No, not at all. Oh my god. I still feel about 20!”
“It’s scary,” the 32-year-old attacker adds.
That’s a regular thought for Russell throughout the interview. None more so than when she realises she’s home from Australia — where she balanced work and football with Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney University — almost three years.
The best memories playing for @salthilldevonfc 💙 https://t.co/bNIncaOOCQ
— Julie-Ann Russell (@Juuulie_Ann) September 23, 2023
“I’ve since got married, had a baby and built a house. Just a bit busy!”
Julie-Ann and Kieran welcomed Rosie into the world last July. In August, the 59-cap international signed for Galway United, having represented their previous iteration, Galway WFC, before her pregnancy.
“I know there was probably people being like, ‘She’s absolutely crazy!’ and others who would have thought, ‘Fair play.’
“For me, I felt strong and I felt ready. Even during pregnancy, I ran up to about 28/30 weeks. I was actually doing CrossFit the full way up to her due date.
“I ended up having a C-section so you can’t do anything for six weeks. Week seven then, I went back light running. I think I went back to Galway at week eight with no contact. And then after the 12 weeks, I went into contact and was able to play.
“But I was doing a lot of running because I actually ran the New York Marathon in November, there was a lot of training for that. I feel like that helped from a soccer perspective as well, I was aerobically fit.
“I didn’t know if I’d come back or not during the pregnancy. You just don’t know. I just felt good and I still had a fire in my belly that I wanted to play.”
Russell had looked to others who had returned to football after having a baby, but she generally focused on herself. “It was nice to know that people had done it before,” the Moycullen native says.
“Seeing the likes of Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux and other Americans… I even remember with Ireland when we played America over in the US, seeing players who had their kids with them. I knew it was possible.
“It’s definitely different for everyone. But again, I didn’t want to put pressure on myself. I was just kind of going with the flow and seeing if I wanted to come back from a physical perspective, but then also mentally.
“If Rosie wasn’t such a good sleeper and all that kind of stuff, it could be totally different. Everything kind of fell into place. It’s been good for me to come back.”
It’s a nice balance. Managing it all was undoubtedly tricky at the start, but with family support and time off her day job with Microsoft, Russell has found a rhythm.
It’s beneficial for her own headspace, too.
“I’m always saying that to my husband. It’s actually so good that I have it, that it forces me to leave the house and get a couple of hours on my own. I feel like otherwise, I’d just always be minding her. And it’s good for him as well that he gets to mind her in the evening and spend quality time. I do think it’s a blessing in disguise.”
Russell is one of the best players to have ever graced the Women’s League of Ireland. She played her underage football at Salthill Devon, before excelling for Peamount, UCD Waves and Galway and contributing heavily to top-flight success.
Her older brother, John, also starred in domestic football and is now manager of Sligo Rovers. Julie-Ann had brief spells in America (Los Angeles Strikers) and England (Doncaster Rovers Belles) as well Australia, while she also played inter-county football for Galway.
Perhaps most notably, Russell has enjoyed a storied international career. She represented Ireland through the underage ranks, and made her senior debut in October 2009 against Kazakhstan.
The 2014 FAI Senior Women’s International Player of the Year is just short of 60 caps, while she also played at the ’13 and ’15 World University Games.
Russell was last included in an Ireland camp in March 2020, when she featured off the bench in a 1-0 win over Greece at Tallaght Stadium.
Wearing the green jersey again is always in the back of her mind, she admits, with the door far from closed on her international career.
“If Eileen [Gleeson] rang me and said, ‘Would you play tomorrow?’ obviously I would.
“But I think from the standard perspective, you probably need to be playing professionally abroad to be involved. I suppose there’s players coming in from the National League too. Obviously I would never say no, but I don’t know if that would happen again.
“I love watching the girls. Just seeing everything getting so big. Watching the World Cup — I actually had just had Rosie, I think she was like two-weeks-old — it was a proud moment watching the girls in front of 75,000 people.
“I had goosebumps, it was incredible. I’m just so happy for them. I know how hard the older ones have worked, and put in so much time and effort, blood, sweat and tears. They deserve everything that they’re getting, I’m just absolutely buzzing for them.”
While she watches Ireland from afar, for now anyway, Russell’s full focus is on Galway United.
She’ll be happy to see the back of their “toughest pre-season yet,” with standards constantly on the rise at the Tribeswomen and across the league. She’s well versed on the matter, having witnessed stark contrast across the globe.
“Just the way they have set up is a million times better than what I’ve seen throughout the years. Pre-season in Australia was hardcore, you had such good facilities and good resources. Coming back to Galway WFC, it was chalk and cheese in comparison.
“With Galway United now, there’s really good facilities, resources, backroom staff, and the training sessions have been really good. They’ve been tough, which I love. I feel like the standard has definitely gone up from previous seasons and places where I’ve been involved.”
A trip to Athlone Town is first up on Saturday night, where Russell is expecting a good game against a “really strong outfit”.
Ciarán Kilduff’s side beat champions Peamount United 3-0 in the Presidents Cup final last weekend to retain their title and add it to the FAI Cup. It was a real statement of intent, with league honours surely the Midlanders’ next target.
But Galway will be quietly confident of making a splash themselves this season. Phil Trill has retained the majority of his 2023 squad, who were buoyed by their first piece of silverware in the All-Island Cup.
“It was great to get that cup last year, and finishing fourth as well was good,” Russell concludes.
“Although the team is really young, they’re experienced. They all have a couple of seasons of the Women’s National League under their belts now. There’s a load of underage internationals and I feel like this is the season now they kind of have belief, if that makes sense.
“Previously, they were too young nearly. There’s a nice mix, we’ve really gelled together. Phil has had them underage as well, which is good. He understands them, he’s a really good people person. I’m confident for this season now going forward… he can bring out the best of everyone.”
So too can Julie-Anne Russell. Her experience, and what she offers both and off the pitch, will be key for Galway United in 2024.
