‘You bring what you learn on the team into your life’: Training with the Cork City FC Women's team 

It’s a cold and damp Thursday evening in April at Ballinhassig AFC grounds – more like the middle of winter with dark, grey skies and a sodden pitch underfoot.

“You’re lucky you weren’t here on Tuesday,” says Shaunagh McCarthy. “It was lashing.”

Shaunagh is a defender on the Cork City FC Women’s squad. She and the team train on the pitch in various locations across Cork twice a week from January to November, whatever the weather. On Monday evenings they’re in the gym, and on Saturdays – or the occasional Sunday – between March and November, they’re playing a match somewhere around the country.

“We’re in Wexford this weekend,” Shaunagh tells me, “And then within the space of three weeks we’re away to Dublin, we’re in Sligo, and then we’re in Belfast. So we have a lot of travel, but it’s enjoyable to see the different places.”

Playing at the highest level of women’s football in Ireland is certainly not for the faint-hearted, but the players love it.

“I just think it’s an honour,” says Shaunagh, who lives in Ballincollig.

Given the nature of professional football, the Cork City FC players come from all over Ireland – and one, Una Foyle, all the way from New Zealand. Corkonian Shaunagh is proud of her roots. “It’s a huge honour representing my county, no matter what sport it is. And my family are huge fans as well, so representing them every week is the main thing for me.”

While the team might be found anywhere in Ireland on any given weekend, some players have more travel commitments than others. Cliodhna Malone is in fifth year in school in Kilkenny. The evening we meet, the midfielder, who is playing her first season with City, anticipated that she would be home after training at around 11.30pm, with school the following morning.

Football has been Cliodhna’s passion since childhood: “I started playing when I was about seven, and was with my local club until under-12s. I played with boys and girls, but then after under-12s, there was no girls’ team. So I moved to a different club in the county called Stoneyford. That was around covid time, so I played there for a couple of years but it was kind of a struggle because of covid.”

Cliodhna then played for a Waterford club for two and a half years before moving to City with a wealth of experience under her belt, despite her young age.

Her teammates admire her dedication in balancing schoolwork with the sport. “I’ve seen her driving from Kilkenny,” says Shaunagh, “and she’s never once complained about it.”

It is clear that the players are passionate about their sport and their club.

“We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it,” says Shaunagh. “We want to play at this level and we have no problem giving up our time to do it.”

Grace Flanagan, a defender from Tipperary, who is also in her first season with the team, agrees.

“Once you’re enjoying it every week, it makes you want to play better and it makes you want to come back every week. And it develops you more as a person as well, you bring what you learn on the team into your life, your job, your social life, and it just makes you a better person.”

Grace has also played football since a young age. “I’ve done everything,” she says. “Probably every sport under the sun, but my dad got me into it when I was a bit younger, probably around seven. As I got older, I started playing with my local club, and started to take it a bit more seriously. I may have sometimes even put a bit too much pressure on myself – I was only 12 years old! But football has been my whole life, really.”

For Shaunagh, the route to football was less straightforward – and took a little more persuading.

“I used to play a small bit when I was younger, but really got into it when I was 16,” she explains. “I did gymnastics for years, and then I transferred into soccer. A few girls in school were playing for Wilton United at the time, and they asked me if I’d come out... I tried everything to get out of it! And then one day, my dad said, ‘just try it out and see how you get on’. So then I went, and they quit, and I’m still here!”

Now in her eighth season at Cork City FC, it’s fair to say that Shaunagh has never regretted her pivot to football. At 26, she is one of the eldest players in what is one of the youngest teams in the Women’s Premier Division.

This brings some challenges, as Shaunagh explains.

“As a team, we are so young. The average age is probably 20. Just getting the girls confident on the pitch, especially in a senior environment, is tough.”

Younger league teams are becoming more common these days, with many players working their way up through the League of Ireland Academy and getting spotted that way at a young age.

“When I grew up there was no academy,” recalls Shaunagh. “So I got onto the team based on how I played with my school girls’ club. I got spotted and brought straight into senior. But since the Academy came in, I think you have to nearly prove yourself first.”

Grace came up through the Academy and was spotted, but she tells me that in the last few years, they have brought in small trials. However, she explains, visibility on the pitch is key. “If people know you, if you’re well known before you come into the League, then you’re probably on the front- line – they’re kind of waiting for you.”

This investment in young players is a welcome development in women’s football in particular, which in ways has been in the shadow of the men’s game. The players are hopeful that the tide is turning.

“Women’s football is becoming more popular, they’re starting to promote it more,” says Grace. “You see it with the Irish team when you look at the amount of promotion they’re getting compared to what they got two years ago.”

Increased enthusiasm for the Irish team appears to be having a trickle-down effect, with the players noticing greater attendance at their League fixtures.

There is certainly enthusiasm for the players at the training session in Ballinhassig on the evening I meet them. I bump into a women’s social team who are excited to hear that they are training on the same pitch as Cork City. “Their dedication is so inspiring,” one player tells me.

Looking ahead, the squad is excited for the current season. Playing at this level of the game is a dream come true, and something they never take for granted.

“It’s a privilege to play for Cork City, and especially in the senior set-up,” says Cliodhna.

“Being around the team, sharing the same goals, all working for one thing, makes it a lot easier every day to make the long journey down. Hopefully we’ll see the reward for it this year.”

While they’re working hard to achieve their – figurative and literal – goals, the players are careful to never forget why they do what they do.

“I think when you work so hard,” reflects Grace, “you forget that you actually do the sport because you love it. And I think that as you get a bit older, you start to think about it and realise, ‘I’m really playing this for the love of the game’.”

The love of the game is crucial, but it’s the team’s dedication and commitment to their sport that truly keeps them going. As they quote: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard!”

Hard work and talent: the women of Cork City FC certainly aren’t lacking in either.