The making of Katie McCabe
Katie McCabe during a Republic of Ireland Women training session at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg.
Many a teenage star had passed through the tutelage of John Bolger but a special moment from Katie McCabe stopped him in his tracks.
Bolger ran schoolboy teams that produced players snapped up by Arsenal (Anthony Stokes), Chelsea (Conor Clifford), Liverpool (Glen McAuley) and Manchester United (Mipo Odubeko)
When walking towards his local five-a-side pitch in Kilnamanagh one day, greeting him was the sight of a player executing an overhead kick into the top corner.
And, on closer inspection, he realised his 11-year-old entertainer was a girl he knew.
McCabe’s brother Gary was already part of Bolger’s side at Crumlin United and it made sense to expand the family presence.
Not that the suggestion was immediately embraced.
“When I rang John Smith who was managing Katie’s age-group, he wasn’t that keen on signing a girl,” explained Bolger.
“But, after one training session, he was convinced and she ended the season as player of the year.”Â
Smith chimes with the sentiment, relieved to have taken the recommendation. “There was an attitude at the time, because she was our only girl, that Katie was taking the place of a boy.
“I didn’t agree with that and she turned out to be our best player, helping us get promotion to the DDSL Premier Division.
“Every time she got kicked — and that was in most games — I’d offer to take her off. But she’d get up off the ground, fix those French braids she wore, wipe away the tears and play on.”Â
McCabe later learnt that her personal accolade caused a degree of resentment. “I loved working under John Smith but he never told me until recent years that parents some of the boys were fuming at me getting the annual award.
“I had a great couple of years at Crumlin. Being Robbie Keane’s former club and myself from the Tallaght area too, I was delighted to be invited in.”Â
Girls’ teams soon took notice and McCabe began complementing her Saturday commitments for Crumlin by lining up for Templeogue United the following day.
Famed underage outfit St Joseph’s was her next stopover, a phase she doesn’t reflect positively on.
“To be honest, I hated it at Joeys,” she admits. “It might sound strange but they weren’t cool – not Tallaght enough for me. They were from the posher side of south Dublin.
“Chloe Mustaki was there. Though we’re good friends these days, I didn’t get them and they just didn’t get me.” She reverted to a more comfortable surrounds at St Francis, then the FAI Cup holders, and the nucleus of that side — including Megan Campbell — migrated to Raheny United once the Saints folded.
McCabe had to wait until her 16th birthday to be eligible for Raheny’s seniors but slotted in seamlessly in time to solidify her spot just as the women’s national league was taking flight.
Surrounded by the best players in the country, she blossomed but it was the influence of one particular team-mate that ingrained in her vital life lessons.
“At 16, to be able to learn from the girls for so long definitely shaped me into who I am today,” reflects the Arsenal mainstay.
“If I’d cut cones and corners in training, which I did, Mary Waldron would clip me around the ear, telling me to go back and do it properly.
“I remember being a lazy winger who didn’t tracked back, Mary would be be screaming at me to tuck in.
“She had high standards and it was unfortunate that we lost Mary to the Ireland cricket team. She was a great leader.”Â
From that stage, she was elevated to the women’s super league but hasn’t forgot her roots.
“I got lying in my hospital bed five years ago suffering from cancer when the phone rang,” outlines Smith. “Of all the players I managed, Katie was the only one to phone when I was ill.
“Thankfully, I’m a lot better now and I got to meet up with Katie last year. She’s not only a great player but a brilliant person and fully deserves the success she’s enjoying.”
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