A total of 13 Irish players donned the Women’s Super League this season, with another 12 featuring in the Championship. From injury woes to title pushes, relegation battles and promotion joys, the Girls in Green were involved in every aspect of the hectic season that was.
With the World Cup looming in less that 50 days, here's a recap on how the Irish players fared in England this season.
Captain fantastic McCabe
Ireland captain Katie McCabe has had quite the rollercoaster season at Arsenal, who were right in the league title race up until the business end of the season.
Eventually concluding in third on 47 points, they impressively clinched a Champions League spot on goal difference over Manchester City and also lifted their first major trophy in nearly four years, the Continental Cup, despite an injury-riddled squad.
In the absence of Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, the Dubliner stepped up, appearing on 21 occasions, scoring three goals and even wearing the armband as things progressed. This of course may have come as a surprise to some given there were transfer links to the 27 year old with now successive three time WSL champions Chelsea back in January, with her current contract set to expire in the summer of 2024.
Notoriously as well she continued to emphasise her passion, eye for goal and aggression (with 7 yellow cards) throughout, something which Ireland manager Vera Pauw will be hoping to channel in the World Cup come July.
Great to see Katie McCabe winning Goal of the Month thanks to this wonder strike against Man City: pic.twitter.com/1aCk2mS73m
— Adia Sälti (@AdamSalter4) May 13, 2023
Return of the Mannion and more
Recent Ireland WNT call up and almost certain World Cup squad contender (should she be fit) Aoife Mannion made a triumphant return from an ACL injury for Manchester United this year, even if she did only conclude the season with a total of four appearances.
The experienced defender came on a substitute in January during the Red Devil’s fifth-round FA cup clash vs Durham, 11 months on from the Conti Cup semi-final against Chelsea that saw her side-lined with a ruptured right knee, which marked the second such injury of her career. Having just broken into a stride manager Marc Skinner confirmed in recent weeks that the two time WSL Team of the Year star has unfortunately picked up an MCL tweak, but that there’s “no structural damage” and they’re still “hopeful” she’ll be back in time for the World Cup.
Similarly, Liverpool striker and Cavan woman Leanne Kiernan is also in a race against the clock to be fit for the Australia/New Zealand tournament. She staged her club comeback during a 3-3 thriller vs Aston Villa on Sunday May 21st, ending a long ankle injury spell since the opening day of the WSL season back in September. Having netted 14 times the previous year to ensure Matt Beard’s team secured promotion from the championship, there’s no doubt the tallys-woman will be looking to hit the ground running this summer once again.
Fellow clubmate and Irish centurion Niamh Fahey will be aspiring to do the same having been out since January, prior to which however she yet again acted as a mainstay at centre back during her 12 appearances and ultimately helped Liverpool to secure a 7th spot finish in their first season back at the top flight.
On the move
The transfer status of multiple Irish players has been greenlit by several WSL clubs this summer, with Aston Villa’s Ruesha Littlejohn, Liverpool’s Megan Campbell and Brighton’s Megan Connolly and Megan Walsh all on the lookout for potential moves.
Midfielder Littlejohn, who joined Villa in 2021 started just one game for the club this season, coming off the bench seven times throughout the course of the year. She departs alongside Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah , Emily Gielnik and Natasha Harding after accumulating a total of 30 caps for the group that recorded a 5th place finish in this year’s table.
Megan Campbell, also known as Ireland’s long throw connoisseur will also be leaving her respective club come the expiration of her contract this summer. After two seasons with The Reds, and having played both at left-back and a centre-back 16 times this season enters the market with plenty of experience, having previously played for 5 years at Manchester City, although continues to venture through injury adversity.
Goalkeeper Walsh and Cork midfielder Conolly then are likewise eyeing up deals elsewhere after being let go by their south-east England club, both of whom played big parts in the team’s emergence to a FA cup semi final and avoidance of relegation at the bottom of the WSL this year.
Relegation/Promotion
Coming out on the wrong side of that battle however were Reading, with the Republic of Ireland’s Grace Moloney and Diane Caldwell in tow. During the season Moloney racked up 13 showcases in net, while stalwart defender Caldwell appeared 11 times, although it wasn’t enough to claw their club out of the danger zone as they closed out their campaign with a total of 11 points over the 22 games played.
On the other hand however, Chloe Mustaki accomplished promotion with Bristol to see them fasten a spot in the WSL next season.
The former Shelbourne ace watched on from the side-lines for much of the latter part of the year due to an injury setback, although featured in their 5-0 trashing of Sunderland over a month ago and with a big recovery block between the season’s finish and the next international games she’s expected to be back fit and in position for selection.
A day I’ll never forget ❤️
Huge dedication and class from every single member of the group this season, a privilege to be a part of it!
Back where @bristolcitywfc belongs! pic.twitter.com/sWwQ7UPv0N— Chloe Mustaki (@CMustaki) April 25, 2023
West Ham’s young guns
West Ham’s Jess Ziu infamously was dealt a killer blow early on to rule her out of what was billed to be her breakthrough and debut season in the WSL, having transferred from the WNL champions Shelbourne earlier in the summer.
She joined the injury club of the dreaded three letters, ACL, back in October in bitterly disappointing fashion given her dazzling bright start for the Hammers, while at the same time beginning to dip her toe into first team contention for the Republic of Ireland, although now isn’t expected to be back on grass until the autumn of this year.
There Ziu would have joined fellow Irish national Isibeal Atkinson who joined the club at a similar time after a spell at Celtic, performing mostly as an impact player later on in the game and appearing off the bench on 13 occasions for the club this year. She also started twice and broke through for a goal, slotting home the winner during their 1-0 win over Leicester back in November.
9 April 2022; Republic of Ireland players, from left, Abbie Larkin, Izzy Atkinson and Jessica Ziu at Dublin Airport before travelling to Sweden ahead of their FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Qualifier match against Sweden on Tuesday. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ireland’s number 1
Ireland’s current holder of the No.1 shirt Courtney Brosnan had a somewhat mixed display for Everton this season, playing 14 times and gathering 4 clean sheets. There she often altered with Emily Ramsey, although had pulled back as the consistent option by the end of the campaign.
In the championship former Peamount United netminder Naoisha McAloon cemented herself as first choice for Durham, as did Lewes’s Sophie Whitehouse, although both are yet to collect a senior international cap and so may be down the pecking order when it comes to Vera Pauw’s World Cup options.
Girls In Green for the Blues
The four strong Irish contingent at Birmingham City narrowly missed out on immediate promotion back up to the WSL after their defiant demonstration this year in the Championship.
Spearheaded by captain Louise Quinn who put five goals in the back of the net throughout the course of the season, alongside Harriet Scott, Jamie Finn and Lucy Quinn (who scored 6 goals) they finished just the one point behind Bristol, following their relegation from the top tier league last year. Elsewhere Eleanor Ryan-Doyle, who had four appearances across all competitions for the Blues before spending the second half of the season on loan to Coventry United was released from the club.
Remaining Championship challengers for a spot on the plane
Haley Nolan, Kyra Carusa and Lilly Agg all impressed for London City Lionesses over the course of the year, putting themselves in good stead for a battle into the Irish squad, as did Durham’s Saoirse Noonan who accumulated five goals during the 21 games she donned the club colours this season.
