FAI...New Manager Hunt continues

[mouview]

All of a sudden our premier league numbers have increased with ogbene, oshea and Cullen all in there now

Unfortunately, can't see Ogbene's Premier league stay being an extended one.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/06/29/stephen-kenny-faces-sack-if-ireland-dont-pick-up-points-in-september-qualifiers/If the men's team fail to take at least two points from France at Parc des Princes on September 7th and the Netherlands in Dublin on September 10th, the association are expected to enact a change of management.

[weareros]

On the women's team, such a pity Megan Campbell did not make the squad due to injury. Was looking forward to her long throw-ins putting a few defences under pressure. Aoife Mannion a very big loss too. Think we have a very tough group to be losing two of our strongest players.

[seafoid]

On the women's team, such a pity Megan Campbell did not make the squad due to injury. Was looking forward to her long throw-ins putting a few defences under pressure. Aoife Mannion a very big loss too. Think we have a very tough group to be losing two of our strongest players.

Both were injured . Very unlucky.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/06/30/back-from-the-brink-sinead-farrelly-returns-from-seven-year-exile/

Back from the brink: Sinead Farrelly returns from seven-year exile
Ireland international remains a natural, even after a car crash, 4½ years of severe concussion and traumatic stress

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Fri Jun 30 2023 - 19:00

Her first touch never deserted her. Sinead Farrelly could always play. A natural.

After seven years away from the game, her touch patiently waited for her return. Even after all those seasons coached by Paul Riley. Even after saying she was coerced into sleeping with the disgraced coach. Riley denies all allegations of sexual misconduct and mistreatment of players. In January he was banned from coaching in America's National Woman's Soccer League for life.

Farrelly remains a natural. Even after the car crash. Even after 4½ years of severe concussion and traumatic stress.

The healing process began with Meg Linehan's brilliant piece of journalism for the Athletic in 2021, when Farrelly and Mana Shim broke their silence, revealing their deepest, darkest secrets in an article that prompted a reckoning for US soccer as their stories revealed a decade of systematic abuse in the sport.

READ MORE

Stamford Bridge clear out under way as Mauricio Pochettino begins stint as head coach
Stamford Bridge clear out under way as Mauricio Pochettino begins stint as head coach
Back from the brink: Sinead Farrelly returns from seven-year exile
Back from the brink: Sinead Farrelly returns from seven-year exile
Daniel Farke set to be named new Leeds United manager
Daniel Farke set to be named new Leeds United  manager
But the loss of Farrelly's prime years seemed a lasting tragedy. Time and mental scarring appeared to have destroyed a career of unlimited promise. Nobody returns to professional sport after seven years away.

Daughter to a Cavan man, Sean Farrelly, but raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, the chance to be capped by the US disappeared when she turned down a place in the 2011 World Cup squad. She was 21. Riley, she said, accused her of disloyalty to their club side Independence. Again, Riley denies any wrongdoing, but Farrelly says he told her she only deserved to be on the national team if he was the coach. She stands over accusations of manipulation and sexual coercion.

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"I felt claimed," she told Linehan.

In 2014, during a regular season game between Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars, Farrelly collapsed on the pitch. It was the third successive club where Riley was her head coach.

"I couldn't function under him," she told the Athletic.

F Scott Fitzgerald wrote "there are no second acts in American lives" but this is an Irish story now. It is Thursday morning on the UCD campus and across the lake in O'Reilly Hall, Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw is giving out 23 hugs and 23 jerseys to the World Cup squad.

Farrelly has just arrived at camp from Harrison, New Jersey, where her new club NJ/NY Gotham beat Chicago Red Stars 2-1 last Sunday. By coincidence, her sister is moving to Dublin so the entire family and a gang of Irish cousins will see her play for the first time against France next Thursday in Tallaght. Her second cap, her home debut.

A black cast covers her right hand and wrist. "Broke my hand. But it is just a hand. I don't need it for soccer."

Learn more


Sinead Farrelly: 'I was in a car accident back in 2015 so I had to take a lot of time away.' File photograph: Getty Images
Until signing for Gotham in April, did you play any football since 2014?

"Probably like 10 times. I just couldn't. I was in a car accident back in 2015 so I had to take a lot of time away. Here and there I would touch a ball but every time it was painful. At that point, I thought I had to give up soccer and I could never go back."

The car accident, what happened?

"Concussion and whiplash. They know so much more now about concussion than they did back then, but I couldn't do cardio or anything. So I lost all my muscle really fast. I ended up having a lot of health issues at the time too. I couldn't go out in the daytime."

How long did it take to recover?

"I didn't feel like myself for 4½ years. I had really bad brain fog. I was like a shell of myself. I didn't think I would ever feel normal again. Every day I thank God that I feel like myself now. It is crazy. There was one season where my friend got me to jump into an over-45s men's league, but every time I played I would feel really bad. I was getting headaches all the time.

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"This is how I see my life playing out: I couldn't deal with my concussion symptoms until I was forced to tell my story about what happened to me [with Riley].

"I was never going to be able to play soccer until I got that heavy burden off of me. Actually, I am so grateful for my concussion because it gave me the opportunity to step away from the game, I was forced to be with myself for so long that I couldn't avoid it anymore. I couldn't pretend it didn't happen.

"I just believe in divine timing. Once that story was out and I could start my healing process then I felt like I could play soccer again."

What did the neurosurgeon say?

"I did treatment for a year in Portland, Oregon at a great concussion clinic out in OHSU [Oregon Health & Science University] but that is super expensive. I basically thought that I just had to live with it. I had so many problems with my mental health that I had to give up playing soccer just to move on with my life."

When did you decide to return?

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"Last year, almost to the day, the beginning of July. I said: 'I am going to give myself six months, until the end of the year, just to see how far I can go to get soccer back in my life.'"

She began training with a conditioning coach from MLS side Philadelphia Union. It took three months to start playing pick-up games. Five a side.

"My touch was always there. That was something I've had since I was a kid. It was more so just the speed of play and my fitness. Obviously it needed work, but whenever I touched a ball I'd feel exactly the same. I think I can do this."

Pauw was on the case immediately. Farrelly's University of Virginia coach Steve Swanson made the introduction.

"She was just really supportive, monitoring my load and not pushing it, and also knowing that if it worked out there was an opportunity where she could bring me in and meet the girls and train and see how I'd fit in. I wish it happened earlier, but the timing wasn't right until last April, when I went in."

After one session with Ireland, Denise O'Sullivan described the 33-year-old as the best technical player in the group.

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Manager Vera Pauw with Sinead Farrelly who said 'Ireland has been such a big part of my family'. File photograph: Inpho
"Ireland has been such a big part of my family. My Dad is from Virginia in Cavan. He still has the accent. My friends are like, 'I don't understand what your dad is saying.' He's a man of few words anyway."

When did he move over?

"When he was younger. He is one of six and he is the only one who lives in America. After I was born we moved back to Ireland and they were going to try and make it work but we went back to America just before I started kindergarten. We lived in Shankill. We were just back in August, our whole family, but the house is not there anymore.

"My family have witnessed me at very low lows and go through a lot of stuff so I think they are just more happy that I feel more fulfilled in my life. It is probably cool for my Dad to see me in the Ireland jersey."

Gotham used to be called Sky Blue but the club rebranded in 2021, following a difficult period that included Derry native Christy Holly's time as head coach.

"They have been through a lot. They are really prioritising the player experience this year. I have had an amazing time, I can't imagine coming back with a different club. I have a bunch of teammates I have known forever and they have been really supportive of me coming back."

Gotham signed Shim last week. An unexpected reunion for the whistleblowers who shared their stories with millions of Americans on CBS Mornings.


"My first game [for Gotham], I played like 20 minutes. I don't know, I just blacked out. I was just like 'pretend you are confident, pretend you know what you are doing.' I was on a high after the game I do remember that. It was just really good to get it out of the way and it was like okay, I can hang, I can do this."

Seven days later she made a calm, natural debut for Ireland in the 2-0 loss to the US. "I was freaking out when Vera said 'can you can stay for the game?' I knew I wasn't going to play 90 minutes because I couldn't yet, but I didn't know I was going to start.

"I was super anxious, but once the whistle blows, you have to deal with it. I did fine, it wasn't like the best but I was just happy I didn't mess up that much. Part of my personality acts like I am cool and chill all the time. Inside I am not."

But you played well?

"I felt like I held my own. To play against some of the best players in the world and pass around them. I dribbled one time. I don't know! It was good for my confidence."

Considering what has happened to you in the past, this must seem easy?

"I am trying to have that perspective. Getting soccer back made me realise that soccer is not everything. I have more to offer than soccer. I feel so privileged to play, and I am so grateful but it is just a game.

"There is a lot of weight on it but I play best when I just enjoy it. Compared to other stuff I've been through this should be fun. I am trying to approach it that way. Easier said than done."

On July 20th, 82,500 people will cram into Stadium Australia for the opening World Cup game, how will you embrace the moment?

"There will always be fear and anxiety for me. I want our team to do well. I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it should be fun. I want to be in that space where I trust myself instinctively, so I can perform and play how I want to play.

"Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I am here for the ride."

Farrelly has an unmissable tattoo on her inner arm: One day, you will learn how to give and receive love like an open window and it will feel like summer every day.

"It is kind of just like, I don't know, freedom. I am a very guarded person and so I want to be more open and vulnerable. Receive. I feel like Irish people have a hard time with that, if I am thinking about my Dad."

Is Sean going to Australia?

"No, my family is not. They will be at the game against France. It is all last minute."

So Thursday is a monumental occasion for the Farrelly clan?

"Yeah, I know. I am nervous. No, it's fine."

[GAABoardMod5]

Roll on the tournament...

World Rankings for Ireland's Group has Canada at 7, Australia at 10, Ireland at 22, and Nigeria at 40.

[clarshack]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/fifa-womens-world-cup/2023/0714/1394551-osullivan-scare-for-ireland-as-colombia-game-abandoned/

Colombian women must be savages.

[Captain Scarlet]

In fairness it must have been fairly serious as Ireland are no shrinking violets.

Christ I hope they get something in the first game.

[Hound]

O'Sullivan would be a massive loss.

I fear Australia and Canada will be just too good for us, and the scoreline will depend on how long we hold out for, likely resulting in 2-0 or 3-0 defeats.

But you never know, I'll certainly be watching and hoping.

[bogball88]

Seen the video of the tackle where they decided to walk off. Bit embarrassing in my opinion

[From the Bunker]

https://twitter.com/markmccadden/status/1680455769366622208/video/1

[Kidder81]

https://twitter.com/markmccadden/status/1680455769366622208/video/1

Pathetic

[clarshack]

I take back what I said about the Colombian women!

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/07/16/medals-misses-and-undercover-matches-the-gaa-roots-of-irelands-world-cup-stars/

Thank the GAA for Ireland's Women's World Cup soccer stars
Amber Barrett, Niamh Fahey and many more of the Ireland squad come from a Gaelic football background

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Before scoring the goal that sent Ireland to the first World Cup, Amber Barrett competed for Donegal in the All-Ireland championship. Photograph: Tom Beary/Inpho
Malachy Clerkin
Sun Jul 16 2023 - 08:00

Amber Barrett puffs her cheeks and lays it out for you. By vocation a footballer, by inclination a messer – she doesn't really do serious if she can help it. This is a rare moment of sincerity, brought on by a question that should sound pretty silly on the eve of a Women's World Cup. Especially one that Ireland have reached on the back of her goal of a lifetime. But we ask it anyway.

Do you miss playing Gaelic, Amber?

"Aw, terribly," comes the reply. "Aye, terribly."

She's genuinely not kidding. Barrett grew up in Milford in Donegal, immersed in three sports – soccer, Gaelic football and athletics. She was an All-Ireland champion runner at underage level. She played senior football for Donegal. She's going to the World Cup. She pushed all three as far as they could be pushed until she had to start pruning back and concentrating on one. Soccer ended up being the choice.

READ MORE

Ireland's Louise Quinn relishing another chance to keep Australian sensation Sam Kerr under wraps
Ireland's Louise Quinn relishing another chance to keep Australian sensation Sam Kerr under wraps
Women's World Cup 2023: Footage emerges of foul by Colombian player on Denise O'Sullivan
Women's World Cup 2023: Footage emerges of foul by Colombian player on Denise O'Sullivan
Thank the GAA for Ireland's Women's World Cup soccer stars
Thank the GAA for Ireland's Women's World Cup soccer stars
Women's World Cup 2023: Your complete guide to the fixtures and results
Women's World Cup 2023: Your complete guide to the fixtures and results
"I basically had to decide when Colin Bell became our international coach," she says. "I was playing for Donegal under Michael Naughton at the time. Colin basically said to me, 'You have a choice – do you want to play for Ireland or do you want to play for Donegal?'

"At the time, we had the Netherlands in our group for the World Cup qualifiers and he named out three or four of the world-class Dutch players and said, 'They're not going playing Gaelic football two nights a week'. When he laid it out like that, it was obvious really. You get an opportunity to represent your country, you're never going to turn it down."

Learn more

Somewhere along the line, it's a conversation and a choice plenty of this Ireland squad had to sit down and reckon with. Most of them played Gaelic football at one stage or another, some to the highest level you can get to. Even a few of the Americans got a taste – in Pennsylvania, Sinead Farrelly's Cavan father was never going to let her away without having a go. "I played it for, like, a week," she laughs.

Some played as kids, the way kids do. Denise O'Sullivan played football and camogie underage but neither of them sang to her in the key that soccer could. Abbie Larkin played for Clanna Gael Fontenoys in Ringsend. Louise Quinn stood in goals for the Blessington senior team at the age of 12 – she was tall even then. "But that put the fear in me," she told The Star last year. "Grown women screaming at me!"

For others, it went a lot further than that. Ciara Grant played minor and senior for Donegal and never lost the love of it. In fact, it was a random encounter at a GAA match that brought her out of soccer retirement and led her back on the road that brought her to the World Cup.


Ciara Grant in action for Donegal against Kerry in 2018. Photograph: Tommy Dickson/Inpho
Having walked away from an elite career to concentrate on being a doctor, she was at a Donegal match in 2019 when she ran into an FAI coach, Trevor Scanlon. "What age are you now?" he asked. "I'm 27," she replied. "But sure players only hit their peak at 29! You should get back at it," Scanlon said. And so she did. And here she is.

[ Ciara Grant hoping to make the leap from hospital ward to professional ranks ]

Lots of the squad come from big GAA backgrounds. Megan Connolly's family are steeped in the Nemo Rangers club in Cork. Her brother Luke captained the men's team to a county title last year after a seven-year Cork career. Megan did her bit with Nemo as a kid but it was College Corinthians that tugged more insistently at her coat.

"Gaelic football asks a lot of different things," Connolly says. "A bigger pitch, for one. More running. A lot more continuous, non-stop stuff. I definitely think growing up playing a lot of different sports helped me with soccer. Also, playing soccer helped with the Gaelic football. Being a half forward, when the ball fell on the floor, I didn't really want to pick it up. I just kind of dribbled a bit and people didn't expect it.


"I think I was just obsessed with soccer, in the end. I loved it. I could see myself going a lot further with soccer. I could go worldwide with it. Obviously with the Gah, it is an Irish sport that is lived and breathed in Ireland, which is absolutely amazing. But for me, what enticed me more towards soccer was the travelling, playing at a professional club, getting a professional wage, actually making a living and having that as your sole job. I knew that was what I wanted from a very young age."

[ Megan Connolly more than ready to play her part in Ireland's cause ]

For all of them, there came a time when the juice stopped being worth the squeeze. Heather Payne played football and camogie for Pádraig Pearses in Roscommon. She played under-14 and under-16 football for Roscommon and was on the Rossie minor panel when she was still only 16. But most of all, she was coming to the attention of the Ireland underage soccer coaches.

"When you're younger, you think you can do every sport and you'll never get tired," she says. I was under-16 and I got to the point where I was getting called up to the Ireland youth team in soccer and I loved it. I loved GAA too but I had this special love for soccer so I continued on with that.

"I was part of the Roscommon minor panel for a year. I couldn't make one game, which was very disappointing for myself and for them. I would have liked to have played one game. I think that was when I realised I had to make the call – I was too busy with soccer."

Some of them still found a way, as they got older. Niamh Fahey's first ever Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month Award came in 2005, when she scored two goals in Galway's All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin. She was only 17 at the time and combined her GAA gaiscí with scoring the winner for the Ireland under-19s in a Euro qualifier against Iceland.

Fahey's soccer career has been long and storied and is about to get its fitting capstone in Australia. But no more than Barrett, the game she grew up with is still coursing through her. Her two brothers, Richie and Gary, won All-Irelands with Galway before her but even though she chose the world of professional soccer for herself, she still found time to keep her hand in long after she signed terms.



Niamh Fahey says she loves Gaelic football as much as soccer. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho
When she was playing for Arsenal in 2011, she joined up with London club Parnells in the off-season, as much as a keep-fit option. They ended up winning the London championship and went on to parlay it into an All-Ireland intermediate club title – the first non-Irish-based team to win one. "We had a couple of games there that I probably shouldn't have been playing in!" she laughs. "But it was great fitness and more so great crack."

We may as well ask the silly question, so. Do you miss it, Niamh?

"Aw I do, yeah," she says. "I do miss it. You play with your clubmates, you play with your friends who you grew up with. That's the beauty of it. Your parish, your club, you miss that side of things. I'm very much still involved. I keep track of the Galway ladies, I watch all my club games when I'm at home, I go to the Galway games. I'm still very much involved in the GAA and I love it.

"I never really had a preference because I loved both of them. I loved soccer ever since I was a young girl playing in school. And then Gaelic was obviously in my blood. I don't think I could actually pick between them. I love playing both so much."

Barrett was full forward of the Donegal team that won their first ever Ulster title in 2015. That was a trailblazing team and Donegal have gone from strength to strength ever since, albeit mostly in her absence. "I was obviously holding them back," she cracks.

But you can seal up the box all you like – a little of her rebel spirit is always liable to leak out. She hasn't played an official game for years. An unofficial one? That's another story.


"A few years ago when I was playing with Cologne, we had a game in Milford at Christmas," she says. "Obviously at Christmas everybody who's abroad comes home to Ireland and so there was a match between the home-based players and the ones who lived abroad. I joined in and played away. It was the only time I did it, to be fair – you don't want to be going back to your club in Germany saying, 'Aw, I picked up a knock.' That would have been an interesting conversation."

She'd have talked her way out of it, all the same.

The game stays the game, wherever they go.

[From the Bunker]

Before you get carried away with the GAA's contribution to Women's soccer. The LGFA put their under 14 girls All Ireland Finals on the same weekend as the under 14 Gaynor Cup. The Gaynor Cup is held the same weekend every year. There were a plethora of girls who missed out on both sides of a big moment in their sporting lives.

GAA has little respect in the for soccer in the boardrooms. And are aggressive in their dealing with Soccer.