Michelle O’Neill: Maggie Farrelly can whistle her way to the top
Cavan official Farrelly made history in January when she became the first female to take charge of a men’s senior intercounty match, a Dr. McKenna Cup fixture between Fermanagh and St Mary’s.
Farrelly has targeted an Allianz League breakthrough in the coming years and Michelle O’Neill has backed her to do it.
O’Neill, a former ladies footballer with her native Wexford, took a beginners referees course in 2008 and seven years later, she was officiating at the Women’s World Cup – the first Irish person to do so.
O’Neill, 37, was assistant referee for the Costa Rica-South Korea clash in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium last year before fulfilling a similar role in front of almost 25,000 fans when USA beat China 1-0 in the quarter-final at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Stadium.
But O’Neill is no stranger to the men’s game and she was assistant referee for last year’s FAI Ford Cup and EA Sports Cup finals.
O’Neill is tipping Farrelly for big things but warned she must train as hard as her male counterparts to make the big breakthrough.
O’Neill explained: “Going into the men’s game, you’ll have to double your standards.
“Maggie will have her goal of getting onto the National League panel and so she’ll be doing extra training and extra work.
“I started dong the men’s tests and training the very same as the men would.
“Once you know you’re fit, and coincide that with your mental training, nothing is an obstacle. I do a lot of mental preparation as well as physical preparation and therefore my confidence is on a very high scale.
“Going into to men’s competitions and with men as my colleagues are not barriers for me then.
“It’s about training smart, especially with women. We know how to prepare our bodies, we know our limitations and our weaknesses.
“What you have to do is work on your weaknesses and excel in your strengths.
“I knew my strength was my speed and I was able to go out and be faster than half the men.
“My weakness would be say that I’m not a marathon runner so I need to increase my speed endurance. Then I put in a programme once a week to increase that.”
O’Neill has also urged Farrelly to find her ‘tolerance level’ of what’s acceptable and what’s not from players.
She explained: “You have to let all of the comments roll of your back but you have to find your level of tolerance for yourself, what makes your blood boil and your line of acceptability before you’ll issue a yellow card for dissent.
“Only Maggie can know that. There will be comments but I get them more from spectators than players.
“Players accept me, I’ve done my work, refereed the match, identified all the laws of the game, two teams, two colours, fair play.
“That’s the way I approach every match.” O’Neill is also a highly respected referee in the Continental Tyres Women’s National League.
In the men’s game, she is one of 57 elite referees operating in Ireland, with that number split between referees and assistant referees.
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