Ciara McNamara: I’d like to walk out as captain at Turner’s Cross. It’s just a Cork thing

Reigning Women’s National league champions Wexford Youths will face National Cup winners Cork City twice in the next eight days, starting with a league encounter at Ferrycarrig Park this evening. Cork centre-half Ciara McNamara was selected on the League’s Team of the Year last season.

Q: This is the eighth year of the Women’s National League. How progressive is the League now?

A: Year on year the League is definitely improving. Girls are in and out of international squads, there’s more interest from overseas in National League players. Katie McCabe went to Arsenal, Claire and Savannah McCarthy were in Glasgow. The FAI has thrown more publicity behind the league too in recent years. In the first year, people didn’t really know about the league. At Cork City, there’s definitely more people coming to our games than when I first started.