Trust and respect the key as Ryan juggles Athlone and Clare

Athlone midfielder Laurie Ryan manages to juggle her Clare Gaelic commitments but only because of the respect accorded her from the club.

9 February 2022; SSE Airtricity Women's National League players, front row, from left, Julie Ann Russell of Galway Women, Rachel Doyle of DLR Waves, Emma Hansberry of Sligo Rovers, Kylie Murphy of Wexford Youths Women, with, front row, Laurie Ryan of Athlone Town AFC, Jesse Mendez of Treaty United , Tiegan Ruddy of Peamount United, Pearl Slattery of Shelbourne, Danielle Burke of Cork City and Sinead Taylor of Bohemians at the launch of the SSE Airtricity Premier & First Division and Women's National League 2022 season held at at HBV Studios in Clarehall, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

As a former captain of Clare’s ladies football side, Laurie Ryan knows how imperative player welfare has to be for Athlone Town to survive.

The Midlanders have built steadily since entering the Women’s National League two years ago, kicking off their third campaign on Saturday against FAI Cup holders Wexford Youth with greater optimism.

Midfielder Ryan still manages to juggle her Gaelic commitments but only because of the respect accorded her from the club.

Given their centralised location and relative newness to the league, Town are still relying on their charges travelling distances from the regions for training and matches.

That commitment has to be reciprocated and Ryan believes Athlone will benefit from applying proper treatment to players.

“It means everything to a player when the club shows they care,” said Tommy Hewitt’s skipper.

“We’ve taken it a step further by giving food after games so they’re not starving on the trip home.

“I’m one of several duel players in the squad. It’s all about laying your stall out with each manager at the start of the season.

“Soccer gets me first of a Saturday but I wanted to continue playing both sports.

“There has to be a level of trust that I’m going to give it my best, not claiming I’m at soccer training when I’m not. But if I say I’m tired and need to rest, well I really mean it.” 

Sustenance alone won’t attract and retain players. Various financial arrangements operate across the 10 WNL clubs but Athlone have at least begun embracing the gradual move towards semi-professionalism by ensuring players are not out of pocket.

“Unlike some other clubs, we don’t pay our players but do foot their expenses,” said Hewitt.

“The girls put in as much effort as the lads and should be rewarded.

“Unfortunately, the league isn’t semi-professional. You try to ensure it isn’t costing players to play because we have plenty of them travelling long journeys to training and matches.” 

Ryan, as a sports science lecturer in Athlone IT, has only to make one commute home per week. Six of her teammates are also her students.

The collegiality does help, as a strong rally secured seventh place in last season’s campaign. It was an improvement on their first campaign and instills confidence of more progress.

“Our aim is to break into the top four,” asserted Ryan. “We were the fourth-best team during the last series of fixtures last year, in terms of points, and it was always going to take time for our new squad to gel. It was some change from starting at the bottom of the barrel.” 

Holding onto his core group has been the challenge for Hewitt. While he’s lost a coterie, enlisting Gillian Keenan from Treaty United could turn into a coup. Such is the difficult domestic market conditions, though, he’s had to broaden his search and the arrival of Rita Lang and Dana Scheriff from abroad have added an international dimension.

“It’s become a rat race in the league, like a Dutch auction,” Hewitt says of his recruitment efforts.

“We’ve tried to sign fringe players from the bigger clubs but they seem happy to stay there because the teams are winning. None of their players want to come to Athlone.

“You have to build a reputation by developing for a few years. For teams like Wexford, success didn’t happen overnight.

“I’ve given a lot of young players their chance; for example we finished our pre-season friendly against DLR Waves with five Under-16 players.

“But we can’t use the excuse of being inexperienced anymore. Most of our team have 30 WNL games now. The ‘newbies’ tag has moved to Sligo Rovers this season.”