Oct 16,2024
Athlone Town boss Ciaran Kilduff has reiterated his belief that young Irish players in the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division deserve more senior international recognition.
Republic of Ireland head coach Eileen Gleeson names her squad for the Euro 2025 play-off semi-final against Georgia tomorrow morning.
During last year's UEFA Nations League, Gleeson called up the Peamount United quartet of Erin McLaughlin, Freya Healy, Ellen Dolan and Jess Fitzgerald. However as the Girls in Green went into the Euros qualifiers against England, Sweden and France, the inclusion of home-based players in her squads became less frequent, with Gleeson publicly sharing her concern that the step-up was too steep.
The remarkable impact made by Galway United's Julie-Ann Russell towards the end of the qualification campaign railed against that assertion, albeit she had over 50 caps to her name before returning to the squad for the games against England and France.
Kilduff described Russell as an inspiration, but stressed he wants to see more players get the call to help energise the league.
"I've been banging that drum since day dot," said Kilduff, who leads freshly crowned league champions Athlone into Sunday's Sports Direct Women's FAI Cup final against Shelbourne chasing a double.
"I've been in the men's game and I just didn't want us to repeat the same template and pattern that we had there where it was, if you were any good, you had to leave.
"The women's league is coming from a lower base. We do not need to repeat that.
"Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, it's the biggest sport in this country. I think we need to treat it as (that). I think the greatest moment for the league was seeing Julie-Ann playing in this country and then going in and playing at that level, and not only being able for it but being a standout performer.
"That was a moment where I was like, 'great, we've got one through'. I know she had previous, I know where she's coming from but she is playing in this league and we needed to be proud of her at that moment.
"We need more. I want that carrot, I want that motivation for, not just my girls, but for all managers in the league to be able to say to their players, 'you can do it from here, you can study here and play in this league and maybe if you're good enough play for your country'."
Ex-Ireland managers Colin Bell and Vera Pauw used to hold home-based sessions for League of Ireland players during their time in charge, but the FAI made the decision to discontinue that practice and instead focus on establishing an Under-23s team which would serve as a bridge between the Under-19s and seniors.
However the creation of an under-23s side does not look imminent, leaving a void that makes it difficult for LOI players to make their case.
"There's load of players in this league who I think need to be told, 'you're doing well'."
"It's not that I think my players should be playing for Ireland," Kilduff added. "I just need to know that if they're good enough they can play here and do that. That's the big difference for me. It's not that I'm having a swipe at one particular person... it's the landscape, the landscape of, can players be here studying, working, playing at this level and if they're playing well enough they can be seen.
"Julie-Ann is a great case study for that. I know she had 50-odd appearances previously for her country, we knew the pedigree was there, but it should be a motivation for other girls: 'look she's playing, I'm playing against her, I'm testing myself against her, I'm scoring as many goals as her'. We need to use her to the best of our ability right now that she is a standard-bearer for the league."
Kilduff had aired his frustration at players being overlooked in an interview with the Irish Independent last weekend. On Tuesday, he expanded on his argument.
"The question was put to me, have I ever gotten a call from an Eileen Gleeson or the head of women's football (Hannah Dingley). I haven't is the answer. Is that damning because I'm managing the champions who are going to the Champions League and have a load of young Irish girls? I would say yeah.
"There's load of players in this league who I think need to be told, 'you're doing well'.
"When I was in Maynooth University (Kilduff coaches the women's college team) I had players in the home-based squads and the first thing they told me was, 'I was up doing the home-based training and Vera was talking to me'.
"Just that carrot would give me and other managers a little bit of ammunition or fuel to keep players committed, to keep players ambitious, to keep players motivated."
