Irish girls Gunning for further glory

THOUGH only two players from this country will be involved — and neither may start for their respective clubs — European football will again dominate hearts and minds here this week.

Odd, then, that few Irish eyes will be on Borehamwood in Hertfordshire tomorrow, where another pair of professional footballers from this country have the chance to make history.

Emma Byrne and Ciara Grant are members of the Arsenal Ladies team and, should they avoid defeat in their game against crack Swedish side Umea IK in the second leg, they will have won the Women’s UEFA Cup final, the highest accolade in the European game.

A third, Limerick’s Yvonne Treacy, would expect to line out alongside them only for a season-ending cruciate ligament injury that sidelines her as her team continues its quest to claim four trophies this year.

Domestic success is no stranger to the Gunners — they’ve just wrapped up their fifth successive league title — but this is their first appearance in Europe’s showpiece affair.

The rarefied altitude left them dizzy at first. Umea have in their ranks the Brazilian world player of the year in Marta and she dazzled the English outfit with her portfolio of tricks and flicks in the first quarter.

Arsenal finally settled and even grabbed a crucial away goal thanks to a stunning 35-yard piledriver from defender Alex Scott in injury time to give the Gunners a 1 — 0 win. Avoid defeat tomorrow and that European title is theirs.

“For the first 20 minutes of the game everyone was a little bit shell-shocked,” said Byrne, the Arsenal and Ireland shot stopper. “I might have touched the ball 50 times in the whole league and then 20 times in the first ten minutes in Sweden. Usually we are quite verbal on the pitch but no-one was talking.

“We were all just looking at one another. We got to grips with it in the last 15 minutes of the first half. The difference in fitness, speed, skill, Marta, that all showed. It’s great that we played away first. A draw would have been great so the win was a bonus.”

Speaking of bonuses, want to know what they got for reaching the decider in the first place?

“We got a key ring and UEFA Cup bag,” says Treacy. “That was it. Oh, and a water bottle.”

Clearly the rewards are not financial and Arsenal are miles ahead any of their English competitors. When she isn’t training, Treacy earns her crust working in the club’s laundry, where the only perk is the sight of part-time model Freddie Ljungberg sauntering around in a pair of shorts.

Byrne is also employed by the club, as a goalkeeping coach for the girls’ academy, while Grant is also on the books full-time. All are entitled to season tickets for the Emirates Stadium and other such niceties.

“Most people seem to think you get loads of money, that you’re really rich,” says Byrne, her eight years at the club evident in her London twang.

“They expect you to buy all the rounds but we’re not rich, it’s just a normal job.”

The other misconception some people have, as the palaver over Jacquie Oatley’s Match of the Day debut proved, is that women simply can’t play or understand football as well as their male colleagues.

“Some people still say girls can’t play,” says Treacy. “Alex scored a great goal at the weekend and someone asked me was it a ‘girlie goal’ that dribbled past the keeper or a proper goal. It was actually one of the men’s physios here with Arsenal who asked me that.”

With the captains of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland in their ranks, it isn’t difficult to understand why Arsenal are so far ahead of the posse in the English game.

Manager Vic Akers, who also serves as kit man to Arsene Wenger’s side, says that the Irish triumvirate have made a “massive contribution” and that the club are actively seeking to sign other players of promise from these shores.

For most people here though, Irish female footballers will always be undiscovered gems and that, says Irish Women’s manager Noel King, is nothing less than a disgrace.

“I’m not criticising other sports but you look at athletics, boxing, horse jumping, they have gone around the world and competed fantastically well. They have all got credit, Ladies Football and camogie the same. We have girls here competing in the most competitive sport in the world and the Arsenal girls have already guaranteed themselves a silver medal — and the public don’t know about it.

“The onus is on the likes of myself and the FAI as a body as well. We have to rectify that, to let people know just how amazing an achievement this is,’’ King added.