“It wasn’t as obvious for us as girls. I don’t think I had any Irish women to look up to as there wasn’t that focus on it but there is that focus now. All these young girls idolise us in a good way and we can show them, if you want to play soccer, it’s something you can do. My heroes were all the top male players, maybe Katie Taylor with the boxing, but I never had a female footballer that I looked up to.”
Heather Payne, September 1st, 2022
The FAI are working to rectify this statement. How hard is open for debate.
Will the next supercharged talent follow the US collegiate path laid out by Payne, rather than Rhasidat Adeleke or Leona Maguire? Because that choice exists for elite female Irish athletes in the 2020s.
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Recent history shows that pioneering Irish female athletes will be followed by an army of girls, so long as their parents can see a clear route into a safe and professional environment.
Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan chopped down a forest so Ellen Molloy and Abbie Larkin can play among tall Scandinavian trees, but there is much work to do.
At least the association readily admits as much, and are not burying their head in the sand, an accusation that was levelled at the IRFU after Ireland reached the 2014 World Cup semi-final, and also at hockey after former Minister for Sport Shane Ross made his “significant share of €1.5 million” speech when the women reached the World Cup final in 2018.
Let’s spin the positive angle. Reality to follow. In the middle of this momentous international window the FAI put out a press release with the banner headline: “Women’s National Team Pursuing Coaching Qualifications.”
Concerns exist around fast tracking a young coach into an environment where their shortcomings would be severely exposed
This was a good news story. Eighteen of Vera Pauw’s senior squad are pursuing their Uefa B coaching badge, thanks in the main to Uefa funding for “female-only” courses. This was due to the small uptake of women in mixed genders courses, something the FAI revealed was down to being cowed by an “all male environment.” A similar problem exists at board level.
The B Licence is needed to manage a team in the National Women’s League. The FAI have “tailored courses” to work around the schedule of professional footballers like McCabe at Arsenal and O’Sullivan at North Carolina Courage. Presumably, the association want to keep them inside the house when their playing days are over. So they want them upskilled for when that day comes.
“It has been a very positive experience working with the FAI Coach Education Department to start out on my coaching journey,” said Diane Caldwell, who at 33 should be integrated into the system in the coming seasons, as she moves on to her A Licence alongside Áine O’Gorman.
More from that FAI press release. “The growth of female coaching in the Republic of Ireland continues to grow with 230 women now with a Uefa licence compared to just 10 in 2016. There are also another 90 women currently working on completing courses.”
Keep it coming. “Fifteen of the women who have obtained their UEFA licence have since joined the FAI to work in various departments, including Coach Education, Development Officers, Football For All, Women’s Football and Grassroots.”
None of the 15 work as a full-time coach of a specific team inside the FAI system. Some, like Ireland under-17 assistant coach Chelsea Noonan, are employed by the association as development officers but most of them see no sustainable career path on an island that remains at least a decade off creating an actual football industry.
More facts: all 10 Women’s National League clubs are managed by men (list below) and of the 14 Republic of Ireland coaches, from the women’s senior management down to the under-17s squad, only four are women.
Pauw, recruited by fellow Dutch citizen and the FAI’s former director of football Ruud Dokter, is the only full-time female coach employed in Ireland. She is not a resident. Two assistant coaches, Lizzie Kent (Ireland under-19s) and Noonan are part-time, as is under-17 performance analyst Alana Moran.
There are no women coaching within the FAI’s male structures.
Tom Elms became Pauw’s number two when Eileen Gleeson took over as Glasgow City manager last year. Elms doubles up as the Ireland girls under-16s head coach. Seemingly, the recruitment process, which involved Pauw, sought a female replacement for Gleeson but Elms was by some distance the best candidate.
Concerns exist around fast tracking a young coach into an environment where their shortcomings would be severely exposed.
So, in reality, not a single Irish woman holds a coaching position of note in Ireland. That should change when the current crop retires but what about the FAI branding the development of women’s football as a primary pillar in their strategic plan up to 2025?
Certain facts are undeniable: the three Irish women currently in possession of a Uefa Pro Licence — the necessary badge to manage in the top tier of any European league — are outside the FAI tent.
Gleeson went to Scotland to progress her career, Lisa Fallon took leave of Galway United last year to take up a role in Fifa’s high performance department under Arséne Wenger and former Ireland manager Sue Ronan is a technical consultant with the global governing body.
It can be argued that Gleeson and Fallon could return with a wealth of knowledge when a job that fits their expertise appears.
The FAI are not lying idle, but certain facts tell no lies. The work has begun, but there is much more to do.
Ireland women’s coaching structures
Women’s senior coaching team: Vera Pauw
Assistants: Tom Elms (also head coach of female u16s), Jane Willem van Ede, Andrew Holt
Under-19 manager: Dave Connell
Assistants: Lizzie Kent, Pat Behan, Keith O’Halloran
Under-17 head coach: James Scott
Assistants: Chelsea Noonan, Rob Sweeney, Dave Rooney, Alana Moran (performance analyst), Sean Doyle.
Women’s National League
Shelbourne: Noel King
Wexford Youths: Stephen Quinn
Athlone Town: Tommy Hewitt
Peamount United: James O’Callaghan
Galway: Alan Murphy
UCD Waves: Graham Kelly
Bohemians: Sean Byrne
Sligo Rovers: Steve Feeney
Cork City: Danny Murphy
Treaty United: Don O’Riordan
