JUST A COUPLE of days before the Republic of Ireland played their first-ever game at a Women’s World Cup, captain Katie McCabe wrote a riveting first-person article about the journey to that stage of her life and career.
This was her pinnacle, so it felt natural to reflect.
McCabe was vulnerable, honest and full of pride.
“You have to know how much I love playing for Ireland. How much I like just being in Ireland. When I hand over my passport at Dublin Airport, and the officer goes, ‘Have a lovely day’ in that Irish accent, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m home’. I think it’s down to the people,” she wrote.
“Everybody in Ireland knows someone’s auntie or cousin. We love to have the craic. We’re a small island that has had to fight for everything. You talk s*** about Ireland? We can’t have that. It’s weird… even if you’re on the other side of the world, if you hear that accent you’re like, ‘I would look after those people, because they’re Irish’.”
Some of those people were on the other side of the world when she turned to the crowd to celebrate in Perth after scoring that historic goal direct from a corner against Canada.
So much had to be endured between that moment and when legendary former Arsenal and Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne – now part of new Ireland boss Eileen Gleeson’s staff – was the one who collected McCabe from Luton airport when she landed to sign for Arsenal in 2015.
Eight years on, McCabe signed a new long-term contract in September after the club rejected a £250,000 bid from four-in-a-row Women’s Super League champions Chelsea.
England star Alessio Russo arrived at the Gunners on a free transfer after Manchester United earlier turned down a world record bid in the region of £450,000 before her contract expired.
The WSL is growing at an incredible rate – a record 59,042 watched Arsenal beat Chelsea 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium earlier this month – and the current TV deal shared between BBC and Sky Sports expires at the end of this season.
It’s been worth an estimated £8m over three seasons with Sky confirming that viewership of its coverage increased 45% last year.
When the bidding process for the new deal gets underway next month, TNT are expected to enter the fray and offer a considerable increase in the number of games aired (currently 57) as well as the financial package.
The WSL and Women’s Championship also announced its decision to breakaway from the English FA and establish their own entity with clubs as shareholders – similar to the formation of the Premier League ahead of the 1992/93 season.
McCabe is one of the stars at the forefront of the revolution.
She was Arsenal’s player of the year for 2022/23 and won the WSL’s goal of the season award for her super strike against Manchester City which helped secure Champions League qualification – although Jonas Eidevall’s side crashed out to Paris FC at the first qualifying stage.
McCabe might have missed out on a place in the WSL team of the season but her peers in Europe voted her in the 22/23 Champions League XI while her displays for club and country saw her finish 22nd in the Ballon d’Or voting.
BREAKING! Arsenal's Katie McCabe wins WSL Goal of the Season for her winner against Manchester City in April. 🔥⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YfnlTWf8AB
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 7, 2023
“Sometimes you’re watching her, seeing how comfortable she is on the ball. Katie is such a natural and yet she leads us so much. She’s constantly led the squad, changed games, been adaptable in her positions and I’ve not enough good things to say. She’s a fantastic leader and player who is still getting better. It’s a joy,” Ireland teammate Louise Quinn beamed.
“Sometimes you wonder how much more she can bring and then you watch what ease she has on the ball. I played against her at Raheny and she always had that, getting into the senior squad early and I was with her at Arsenal. They were almost about to get rid of her around that stage so to see where’s she come and the leader she’s become, I’m a fan and will always be there for her.”
That is another part of the McCabe story that provides hope to those who dream of following in her footsteps.
It hasn’t been easy.
“At Arsenal [in the early days] I was alone. I didn’t know anyone there like I knew my siblings,” she wrote on The Players’ Tribune.
“When I got benched, I was wondering what I was doing wrong. My mind was spinning. What do I have to change? Have people forgotten about me? There was no psychologist there at the time, and I wasn’t good at opening up to the players I knew. Six months after signing for Arsenal, I didn’t even like football anymore.”
Now she makes those who watch her play fall in love with the game.
The way McCabe has been playing for the last few years, the things she can do with a football and the ferocity she brings to her game, galvanise those around her.
It’s why her teammates voted her PFA Ireland International Women’s Player of the Year, and why she also wore the armband for Arsenal in recent weeks.
“For all the years that I’ve been playing next to Katie, playing on the same team and playing against Katie, I have never seen her at such a top level consistently. I’d say she has always had that ability,” Kyra Carusa said after the Republic of Ireland made sure they ended their League B Nations League campaign with a 100% record courtesy of a 5-1 win over Northern Ireland in which McCabe scored a trademark wonder goal.
“She has always been that kind of player. But at this consistent level and having a very unique ability to make others very good around her, I think that’s the true example of very good leadership and a very class player. I feel like she is in such good form, it’s contagious. I feel like I can be in good form because she is in good form.”
McCabe has battled to a point in her career whereby 2023 felt like the year she has now truly overcome the kind of draining battles of the past.
Football now offers different, more ambitious challenges.
