ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB has a rich history of Irish players and Katie McCabe became the latest addition to that exclusive group when she sealed her dream move last month.
“It was a no-brainer for me from the first day I went over as it’s an amazing club and everyone came across so well,” says the talented Dubliner, who recalls being greeted warmly on her recent visit to their state-of-the-art training centre.
“Even all the staff who didn’t know who I was made me feel so welcome. This Irish girl that they didn’t have to treat well but they made sure to anyway.
“On top of that, the facilities, the training ground, the gym and the changing rooms were all top of the range and the pitches looked immaculate.
“There’s a history of success at the club whether it’s men or women and it also felt like a really homely environment.”
While names like Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton and David O’Leary are synonymous with the Gunners, another Irish trio – Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy – were part of their all-conquering women’s team in the early 2000s.
It’s no exaggeration to say Arsenal Ladies have dominated English football for the past 25 years – a record winning 14 league titles, 13 FA Women’s Cups and and the Uefa Women’s Champions League (formerly the Uefa Women’s Cup) in 2007.
Fascinated by the sport from an early age, the club’s success didn’t go unnoticed by McCabe.
“I remember watching FA Cup final with Arsenal playing Charlton (in 2007) when I was about 12 and Emma Byrne was playing in it!” she explains. “I obviously know Emma from the Ireland team but it’s going to be surreal training with the squad everyday.
I’m going to learn a lot from these girls — playing with the likes of Fara Williams who is the most capped English player of all time.”
In recent times, former Galway footballer Niamh Fahey spent six trophy-laden seasons with the North Londoners before joining city rivals Chelsea, who did the double for the first time in their history back in October.
The Blues were among several clubs interested in acquiring the services of McCabe as she is seen one of top young talents to come out of this country.
Having learned her trade at Raheny United (later Shelbourne after their amalgamation) since the age of 14, the goalscoring winger has come to the fore on the national and international stage over the past two years.
A move abroad had been mooted for awhile and, after turning down the advances of Glasgow City, the 20-year-old was invited to visit Chelsea’s set-up.
“I went over there for a day but it was just missing something,” she says. “I don’t know what it was but I just felt it wasn’t right so I said no to them.”
After finishing out the remainder of the Womens National League (WNL) campaign and spending Christmas at home, McCabe said an emotional goodbye to her parents, 10 siblings (including Shamrock Rovers midfielder Gary) and Shels team-mates this week as she packed her bags for London.
Training began on Thursday and there are a hectic few weeks ahead as the Ireland squad meet next week for a trip to California where they will play world champions the US as well as their U23 side in two friendlies.
They’ll only be back from the States a couple of dsays when Arsenal travel to Seville for a pre-season game against Bayern Munich and McCabe is confident she can impress manager Pedro Martínez Losa in the coming weeks.
“Fitness-wise, everyone is going to be a bit behind because it’s the off-season but once we get going I’m sure the rest will come and I’ll start proving to the manager that I’m good enough to be in his team.
“Of course it’s going to be different to playing in Ireland but I think I’ve established myself a little bit and showed on the international stage what I’m capable of.
“It’s a step up from the WNL as I’ve been playing against top teams — the US, Spain, Norway, Finland, Portugal — so I do know what it’s going to take.
“That’s playing against senior players so I’m just going to take what I do on the international game and bring it into Arsenal. It’s going to be so competitive over here at training as everyone will be fighting for places.
“It may take me a week or so to get into it but I don’t think I’ll be long getting up to speed.
I am confident enough to believe I’m capable of succeeding so I’ll give it my best shot and see where it takes me.”
Luckily goalkeeper Byrne, who has been with the Gunners for the past 16 years, has promised to show her young Ireland team-mate the ropes.
“When the initial interest came in, I had a chat with Emma,” McCabe says. “She told me how great they are and what they do for you, so it was very helpful.
“She said she’ll take me under her wing so that will help get me find my feet and it won’t be like I’m a little fish going into a big pond.
“You look up to people like Emma and Niamh Fahey on the Ireland team. They’ve been around the game a long time and you’re more comfortable on the pitch when you get to know them off it.”
