LAST TUESDAY, THE Republic of Ireland women’s national team momentarily parked their World Cup preparations to learn their fate for the inaugural Women’s Nations League.
This is the very concept that manager Vera Pauw labelled as “detrimental” when it was first announced last August, warning that it could make it “virtually impossible” for Ireland to qualify for major tournaments going forward.
This week that proposal became reality, and Pauw’s fears were realised.
The new Women’s Nations League mirrors the men’s edition — in play since 2018 — and brings with it a new system for qualifying for the Women’s Euros, World Cup and Olympics.
As the top-seeded team in League B, Ireland were drawn into Group B1 against Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania, with the home and away fixtures set to take place this autumn and winter.
Pauw has long shared her concerns around the Girls In Green’s standing in the wider game. She takes issue with Uefa’s favouritism towards top-tier, or now League A, nations like European champions England, Germany and France.
“The key thing is that the [2022] Euros was a reflection of the money,” Pauw said last summer. “It’s a pity that in our game the big money goes to the top, the second tier is forgotten, and the third tier gets the support to develop into the second level.
“They have invested a lot in the top. Then the issue is that the Association [Uefa] needs to take care of the second tier.
“The ones with money get more money, the ones with average get nothing, the ones with no money get support — that’s the situation at the moment.”
Pauw’s fear is that Ireland, as a second-tier or League B team, could be left behind as the gap continues to grow. Their incredible progress in recent years could easily turn stagnant, or go the other way, with the Nations League taking over.
The leagues are based on Uefa’s latest coefficient rankings, not including friendly games — unfortunately for Ireland. They are at an all-time high of 22nd in the Fifa world rankings, and 18th in the Uefa coefficients. As for their opponents, Northern Ireland are 45th/24th; Hungary are 41st/29th; and Albania are 72nd/33rd.
Pauw’s side will play six home-and-away group games before the end of the year. The first two rounds of games will get underway in September, with four more matchdays scheduled across October, November and December.
Then there will be finals and promotion/relegation matches next February, before it’s straight into Euro 2025 qualifying action — with the seedings for that draw determined in part by Nations League results.
As top seeds, Ireland will be firm favourites to win Group B1; on paper, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania are lesser opposition. The concern from an Irish perspective is that this team’s upward trajectory has ultimately come as a result of testing themselves against higher-ranked opposition. Life in League B could also negatively impact their ranking and coefficient.
(Before Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign, they endured a seven-game losing run. A huge turning point arrived in a 3-2 friendly win over Australia, and they went on to beat Finland twice and draw with Sweden in Gothenburg in their qualifying group. A 1-0 play-off win away to Scotland clinched qualification. Last month, they fell to narrow 2-0 and 1-0 defeats away to world champions USA, moving to close a significant gap.)
Ireland can of course earn the right to play in League A through the promotion and play-off system, but Pauw has previously aired her concerns about League B teams going up against League A opposition “after playing two years on the lower level — and that is without the opportunity of playing friendlies”.
The FAI confirmed on Tuesday that Tallaght Stadium would host Ireland’s home Nations League fixtures, and announced a WNT season ticket to cover those games and Ireland’s two World Cup warm-up matches in Dublin.
What might seem like progress in one respect feels like another missed opportunity, and is arguably one of the most pressing issues of all. Calls for a move to the Aviva Stadium have heightened since World Cup qualification, the expectation being that an historic send-off friendly would take place at Lansdowne Road. Instead, France and Zambia come to Tallaght due to “scheduled pitch maintenance” at the Aviva.
The overarching hope was that the conversation would be revisited ahead of the Nations League games. But it’s believed opponents like Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania aren’t seen as big enough draws by the FAI to justify a potential switch.
The remainder of 2023 throws up the biggest few months in Irish women’s football history, but serious issues are bubbling away under the surface. A rethink may be needed for the game as a whole.
