John Fallon: While Niamh Fahey targets World Cup dream her place in history is unquestioned

Sporting royalty engulfs the Fahey household in Killannin on the edge of Connemara, but Niamh, the youngest of eight siblings, is entitled to claim pride of place.

Sporting royalty engulfs the Fahey household in Killannin on the edge of Connemara, but Niamh, the youngest of eight siblings, is entitled to claim pride of place.

Not that her modesty would allow it, yet after she joins a knot of centurions in today’s women’s international against Poland, not even her the decorated GAA careers of her brothers can match her feat.

Richie and Gary were part of Galway’s last two All-Ireland winning panels, the latter lifting the Sam Maguire in 2001 as captain, guaranteeing their names are revered across a county starved of senior success since.

Niamh not only emulated their achievement by enjoying All-Ireland glory at Croke Park for the country’s ladies in 2004 but repeated the trick for the Tribeswomen in soccer three years later.

To cap the accomplishment, it was her goal from the penalty spot which scalped hot favourites Raheny United in the final at Dalymount Park.

Fahey was by then blossoming as an Ireland international and, after featuring in a friendly against Arsenal, also at Dalymount, earned a contract offer from a club that were not only dominating English football but champions of Europe.

Six top-flight English league winners’ medals — including one at Chelsea in 2015 — were to follow and she’s on course for more silverware as captain of runaway Championship leaders Liverpool.

Family rivalry is all good-natured but even Gary would recognise when he attends today’s Pinatar Cup in Spain (2.30pm) that the baby of the family is peerless.

“That’s a tough question,” said Niamh yesterday when asked to contrast their respective accolades. “He’s landing in Spain for tomorrow’s match so I’ll be able to ask him myself. My family are immensely proud of me and we’re a strong GAA household so they might rank an All-Ireland slightly higher or on par.

“I’ll have to ask my Dad (Richard) about that one but, yeah, I suppose at this stage I could probably trump him.”

The last statement had to be coaxed out of Galway’s golden girl, reflecting her modest nature. She was at pains to point out during a specially convened briefing her bafflement at the fuss. That was before FAI President Gerry McAnaney arrived at the team hotel to present her with the rare golden cap.

Fahey becomes only the fourth player to hit the 100-cap mark in the FAI’s history books, following Emma Byrne (134), Áine O’Gorman (111) and Ciara Grant (105).

Olivia O’Toole, Ireland’s record goalscorer and rated by Fahey as her most inspirational player, contends she too surpassed the century mark over her 18 years of service. She confirmed, when contacted yesterday, that the process of verifying her appearances through historic records was ongoing, not wanting to impose on her former team-mate Fahey’s week of fervour.

Like O’Toole, there’s a lot more to Fahey than just the footballer. At the height of Arsenal’s superiority, the youngest of their Irish legion was the only player with a full-time job outside of the game, working as a research scientist in a blood lab.

Although some of her contemporaries felt her diversity warranted a visit from professionals in white coats, she was donning one, undertaking a Masters in pharmacology. Another Masters degree, in business and administration at John Moore’s University in Liverpool, is currently occupying her off-field time.

Those academic ventures epitomise an independence of mind, one evident again in 2017 when she left the comfort of her surrounds at Chelsea to join French club Bordeaux. A cruciate ligament injury had underlined the precarious nature of football and the time was nigh for a change of scenery and pace for a year.

Joining Liverpool a year later wasn’t risk-averse either. Glorified and as glamorous as the club brand is, their record for player welfare in the women’s department had come under scrutiny and they were no longer the force of old. As cruel as the averaged points system was when Covid-19 curtailed the 2020 season, their relegation wasn’t a surprise. Fahey stayed on as captain and Pool’s two-year sabbatical in the wilderness is near an end.

Where and when the 34-year-old’s career reaches its conclusion doesn’t feature in her thinking, though the World Cup next year presents a platform to finally plant her international flag.

Getting to a play-off in her first international campaign for Euro 2009 promised much for Ireland but the sense of regret in her memories of skidding off-course on a frozen pitch in Iceland back then are natural given they’ve not replicated those strides since.

Were Ireland to blow this best chance of getting there by relinquishing second place in their group or bow out in the play-offs, the bucket list item of international tournament will have to remain unticked.

“It would be massively disappointing but as I’ve learnt to enjoy the journey as I’ve got older,” she reasons. “If it doesn’t happen, I won’t be devastated because I’ve enjoyed every minute and progressed along the way. Hopefully, what I and we have done helps the future generations to get a step closer to a tournament.”

And herein lies Fahey’s ultimate legacy. Together with Byrne and O’Gorman, in 2017 she was at the forefront of embarrassing the FAI into granting basic conditions.

“It came to a head with the strike outside Liberty Hall but there were a lot of other steps before me,” she notes.

“I can be proud of my journey if it doesn’t end up exactly where I want it to be, from how we’ve helped develop the women’s game. It was just the drive of people involved, the players themselves and external. They realised there could be a lot more done in terms of equity, fairness and promotion of the game.

“It’s not that long ago that women’s football was banned and we’ve tried to move past those times. There’s a love of football worldwide so all these factors have contributed to where we are now.”

That alone merits her place in the pantheon of greats, from Galway to afar.

Save Tolka Park campaign won’t derail Dalymount rebuild

Bohemians are adopting a relaxed position that their late hero Bob Marley would be proud of when it comes to disconcerting noises emanating from their proposed co-tenants Shelbourne.

A general view of Tolka Park

Although the club are officially keeping their powder dry, Shels director Finian McGrath recently pledged his support to keep the Reds at their current base rather than sell up and relocate to the nearby rebuilt Dalymount Park. Shels were swift to point out the former TD was speaking in a personal capacity.

First-team boss Damien Duff last week made his similar preference clear and the imminent rocking atmosphere at the rickety old venue for the team’s Premier League return will only crystalise a matter that requires clarity amid the ongoing uncertainty.

That the captain of their title-winning women’s team, Pearl Slattery, is a guest speaker at the movement’s benefit gig on March 5 highlights the growing support.

“Save Tolka Park is a group of people, not Shelbourne FC,” noted Daniel Lambert, chief operating officer at the current sole Dalymount residents Bohs. “If this was to change, then that is for people at Shels but w’d be pretty confident Dalymount will still go ahead as is. I don’t think it would impact it; that’s my understanding.”

Business as usual for Bohs towards the 2025 completion date then but it remains to be seen if the State divert from their robust business model by agreeing to a single-club occupancy.

Trio ousted in SFAI row sideshow

Political heaves have seldom featured in Irish football since the smoky FAI summits of the 1990s but a return of a classic coup d’état and counter operation was on display in Ennis last Saturday.

Rather than complete a clearout of the Schoolboys/girls FAI (SFAI) top brass with a no-confidence motion, the squadron of dissidents Tony Gains, Paddy Dempsey, and former FAI board member John Earley found themselves instead dispensed with.

The broader church of the SFAI Council didn’t buy their grievance that the SFAI hierarchy had mishandled the recent controversy over the U14 national league, instead laying the blame firmly at the doors of the FAI for allowing a situation develop whereby registrations were accepted in December for a campaign not starting until July.

Numerous club teams nationwide have folded mid-season, accounting for the feeling of anger and outrage in the room. Jonathan Hill’s plea at Thursday’s Assembly meeting to set aside what he deemed “unacceptable language” within the debate was noted but each of the 31 leagues have been requested to propose their preferred course of action before a collective response is formulated.

An overwhelming majority of the 45 delegates in attendance voted for Gains, Dempsey and Earley to be banished from SFAI involvement. The fallout from this could persist longer than the U14 feud.

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