THURSDAY’S MIDDAY ANNOUNCEMENT didn’t exactly come as a surprise, nor did the barrage of tributes.
Niamh Fahey called time on her international football career after 17 years and 115 caps.
The 37-year-old will continue to play for her club Liverpool, whom she captains, but this was a fond farewell to an Irish legend.
“A message from Niamh Fahey,” read the start of the post on X.
You knew what was coming before scrolling any further.
Click into the accompanying video and you’re met with an emotional monologue from the woman herself, with heartwarming pictures and videos from through the years scattered throughout.
A near two-decade long international journey distilled into two minutes and 20 seconds.
The highs and lows, and everything in between.
A message from Niamh Fahey…
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) January 9, 2025
17 years, 115 international caps, and a journey filled with treasured memories 🥹☘️
Thanks for everything you’ve accomplished in Green, Fahey! 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/V0nN8zDiNV
An Instagram post and FAI statement followed, along with a bombardment of tributes and well wishes from across the globe.
Fahey’s Irish team-mates led the way, with legend, leader, role model and joker among the many words used by Katie McCabe and co.
Affectionately called ‘Nidge’ by her Girls In Green colleagues, the centurion defender said she felt “proud, satisfied and happy” as she retired from international duty.
It’s bittersweet, but appears the right time.
“It felt like a natural ending,” Fahey told RTÉ’s Game On later on Thursday.
If Ireland had qualified for Euro 2025, she would have continued, but her mind was more or less made up after the heartbreaking play-off defeat to Wales in December.
That was Fahey’s first time to play at the Aviva Stadium — she missed Ireland’s previous three outings at Lansdowne Road due to injury — and will most likely prove her last.
“I pretty much knew walking off the Aviva Stadium pitch that it was the last time I was going to wear the green shirt,” she conceded.
A disappointing finish, to say the least, but her career has been incredible. And it’s not over yet.
It all began in Rosscahill and Killannin in Galway, with Gaelic football the Fahey family staple.
Her brothers, Gary and Richie, were part of the Tribe sides that won All-Irelands in 1998 and 2001, while Niamh followed suit herself in 2004. She was just 16 when she helped the Galway Ladies lift the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time in their history, playing the full game against Dublin at Croke Park.
Four years later, she signed for an Arsenal team that had won the Champions League the previous season.
Fahey’s soccer origins can be traced back to Salthill Devon. She made waves locally, and helped Galway United to FAI Women’s Cup glory in 2007. As well as producing an outstanding defensive display, she scored the winning penalty to down Raheny United at Dalymount Park.
18 months on, she won a domestic treble in her first season at Arsenal.
Success aplenty followed in London, between the Gunners and cross-city rivals Chelsea, while Fahey also spent a stint in France with Bordeaux. A lifelong Liverpool fan who idolised Michael Owen as a youngster, Fahey signed for Liverpool in 2018 and she has been instrumental at the club in both the Championship and the Women’s Super League since.
Ireland was ever-present right through her colourful club forays.
Having climbed the underage ranks, Fahey made her senior international debut against Portugal at the Algarve Cup in 2007. She quickly became a regular in defence, and the 2009 European Championship play-offs against Iceland were the first of three such experiences in qualifying bids with mixed results.
She retires as the only Irish player to have featured in all three.
The successful one against Scotland at Hampden Park was widely referenced by 2008, 2009 and 2011 FAI International Player of the Year Fahey as a highlight on Thursday.
“There have been countless highs and lows, but the feeling of elation and satisfaction en route to qualifying and representing our country on the world stage at the Fifa Women’s World Cup in 2023 will live long in the memory,” she wrote.
Fahey played her part in Amber Barrett’s famous winner in Glasgow, and started all three group games as Ireland’s oldest player (aged 35) at their first major tournament.
She flirted with retirement in the bowels of Brisbane Stadium — a series of calf injuries hampered her preparations — but opted to go again.
The setbacks and niggles continued, but Fahey persisted. While Áine O’Gorman, Harriet Scott and Sinéad Farrelly all bowed out, the Galway stalwart continued in pursuit of another major tournament. It wasn’t to be.
She walks away with countless other standout moments and memories representing Ireland, from her first and only goal on her 104th cap against Georgia in 2022 — aka ‘The Hand of Fahey’ — to Ireland’s fight for fairness at Liberty Hall in 2017.
While she will continue to play for Liverpool and is dipping her toes into coaching, there’s no questioning the remarkable legacy Fahey leaves as an Irish legend.
Ní bheidh do leithéid arís ann, as they say in her parts.
A wonderful player…and servant
Brilliant career. Pity it didn’t end with an appearance at the Euros but she got every last drop out of herself. Humble but fiercely competitive, leading by example and making those around her better. Other(s) could take note.