Oct 24,2024
It's been quite a journey for Abbie Larkin, the fleet-footed winger from Ringsend who breezed onto the world stage with such carefree abandon 15 months ago.
Larkin’s stock rocketed after her appearance off the bench against Australia in the opening game of last year’s World Cup. She was just 17 then, playing at Shamrock Rovers, brashly unfazed in the cauldron of the Accor Stadium which housed over 75,000 fans that night.
Larkin jinked and danced, the decibel levels among the Irish supporters going up a few levels whenever she had the ball at her feet. A star was born.
She featured in all three of Ireland’s group games and came home with her reputation significantly enhanced. A move across the water was inevitable. The following September she went to Glasgow City scoring nine times in 16 games before making a surprise switch to Crystal Palace in January of this year, helping the Eagles to promotion from the Championship.
But it’s curious that her international progress has stalled somewhat. Larkin only featured once in the six Euro 2025 qualifiers, coming off the bench 57 minutes into the 1-0 loss to Sweden in Stockholm.
"To be honest, I don’t really let pressure get to me," said Larkin from the team base in Tbilisi.
"I’m just going to focus on me. I’ve got my family and friends to support me. It’s just about enjoying it, I don’t want to lose the enjoyment of it because if I do that then I’m not going to play my best football. You’ve got to keep that enjoyment."
"You are always going to miss your family, but you know they are only a flight away."
She looks fitter and stronger now having spent a good year in full-time setups. Newly-promoted Palace have found the going tough in the Women’s Super League, but they do have four points on the board and have shown signs they’re starting to find their feet. Larkin has played her part.
"Everyone knows about the WSL, the standards are really high, it’s way more intense," she said.
"It’s definitely a big step from the Championship. Crystal Palace, our club, is more of a possession-based team and we had more of the ball in the Championship. Having that step up we need to realise we’re not going to have as much of the ball now. We’ve just got to work on our defending.
"Our first two games were rocky (they lost 4-0 at Spurs and then 7-0 at home to Chelsea) but, you know, it was our first taste of the WSL so you couldn’t really read much (into it). I think we’re definitely finding our stride now, we have four points coming into the international break. Hopefully it’ll be really good when we get back."
Still in her teens, Larkin has had to grow up fast. She admits she’s "a home bird" and took time to adjust when she first left Dublin, but the presence of some familiar faces at Palace has helped.
"Glasgow was definitely a challenge, first time moving away from home, I knew it was going to be tough," Larkin added.
"I think, looking back on it now, it helped me grow as a player and gave me a new perspective on how football is, not just in Ireland. It helped me moving to Palace in growing and developing.
"I knew Izzy (Atkinson) was there when I was going and had Hayley Nolan as well, another Irish international. It helped having familiar faces there and Izzy was obviously a big part to play in that. She was there for me through a lot. I was grateful to have her there.
"You are always going to miss your family, but you know they are only a flight away, so they can always come over and visit.
"You are never going to jump straight in and be able to do everything but now I’m taking it in my stride."
Larkin scored her first – and to date only – senior Ireland in Georgia back in June 2022 , when the Girls in Green cruised to a 9-0 win. They're good memories that she’ll aim to emulate tomorrow.
"A little header, it was," Larkin smiled. "I don't really score with my head so that was definitely a memorable one. I mean it was amazing to score your first international goal. Honestly, I still think about it to this day. It was amazing. It's a dream come true, isn't it?
"This group of girls are amazing and they treat you like family when you're in. I definitely felt at home straight away, it wasn't just in the Georgia camp. Obviously as I'm in here every time, we all get closer. It's a very nice environment.
"All the girls are really excited, I think we’re just going to focus on ourselves and then, yeah we’re looking forward to playing Georgia. We’re not going to classify them as not (being) as good as France. We’re just going to go into the game and play the way we normally play and not take anything for granted."
