John Fallon: Women rule the roost for Irish football in 2022
TRIBUTE: Amber Barrett of Republic of Ireland celebrates after scoring during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Play-off match against Scotland. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
A year when a major tournament looked further away for the Ireland men's team developed into a landmark one for the women, with World Cup qualification secured.
On the domestic front, the first season since 2019 without restrictions released pent-up demand among fans and the three best-supported teams in the country – Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Cork City – claimed the silverware. So too did Caoimhín Kelleher, even if he ended the year still back-up goalkeeper for Ireland and Liverpool. Well, we can't have it all. Here's the month-by-month chronology of 2022 for Irish football.
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Seldom does an Irish player command a major move in the transfer window nowadays but a new post-Brexit trend of hawkers from beyond the UK emerged. Udinese splashed out €600,000 for St Pat's teen James Abankwah while the mighty AC Milan offered Cork City's Cathal Heffernan a platform to earn a move through a loan deal. Elsewhere, Anthony O'Connor's goal gave Morecambe a momentary sniff of an FA Cup upset at Tottenham, West Ham United's Mipo Odubeko pledged his future to Ireland amid interest from Nigeria and Louise Quinn floated the World Cup as a realistic aim for the year. Imagine that?
Romance and Roy Keane rarely collide, scuppering a return to Wearside when Sunderland came calling again. At least we had gold-dust on the LOI sidelines, as Damien Duff entered life as a frontline senior manager at Shelbourne. "I'm glad that's over because I don't like the spotlight," he said after an opening 3-0 defeat to St Pat's as a packed Tolka Park. Almost 5,000 file into Turners Cross to see former hero John Caulfield inflict an early wound on Cork City's promotion hopes by leading Galway United to victory. Leeside rejoices though at Kelleher's Wembley heroics – keeping a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup final before scoring the winning penalty.
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Stephen Kenny, armed with a contract extension sewn together by escape clauses, treats the media to a tactical tutorial ahead of the opening assignments against Belgium and Lithuania. Watching his assistant Anthony Barry defect to the Belgians wasn't easy but the results, 2-2 against their second string followed by Troy Parrott's late lifeline, maintained the uptick. As the FAI celebrates its centenary, their bid alongside the UK federations to co-host the Euro 2028 – downgraded from the 2030 World Cup – faces competition from Turkey and Russia, fresh from invading Ukraine.
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Bonus territory for the women's team was extracting anything from Sweden in Gothenburg and they nearly took all three points but for a late equaliser by Europe's top seeded team. The 1-1 draw kept a playoff spot within Ireland's control with three qualifiers remaining. For the men's team, a rejigged Nations League schedule due to Ukraine becoming a warzone pitted them with an opening trip to Armenia in June. What could possibly go wrong? Back home, Cork City's victory at the RSC led to Waterford sacking Ian Morris and the billionaire Comer brothers signalled their ambition around the takeover of Galway United by declaring the new training ground would exceed Arsenal's for Quality.
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Champions Shamrock Rovers, with help from shareholder Dermot Desmond, stave off interest from Lincoln City in their manager Stephen Bradley before Derry City to stay top. Likewise, Cork City in the First Division, thanks to Matt Healy's screamer of a winner at Galway United. Ian Ryan rejects Waterford to stay at Wexford, Michael Obafemi finally answers Ireland's call for the June quadruple-header and, most importantly in the broader scheme of things, the FAI appoint Marc Canham as their new head of football.
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Any ground made up in the previous eight months is obliterated by Ireland losing in Yerevan. More excuses flow for the home defeat to Ukraine before redemption from the win over Scotland and draw in the Ukrainian rematch on neutral ground of Lodz, Poland. Nathan Collins – along with Obafemi and Parrott – come of age in the window but Kenny's target of top spot is dust. The women's rearranged qualifier in Georgia goes along predicted lines of a 9-0 whitewash. Cobh turn to Shane Keegan as their latest gaffer.
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Kenny loses his third No 3 in 18 months as John Eustace quits for QPR but it is women's Euros hosted by England that captivates the international audience – showing Ireland what's possible. On the club front, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic all hurdle rounds but the FAI run into problems by adjourning their AGM because of problems filling their Government-imposed quota of female Directors.
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A sold-out Tallaght beckons for an Ireland side on the cusp of a World Cup playoff but the build-up to Finland's visit is overshadowed by revelations of an historical rape case. Vera Pauw elevates her case to the Dutch police.
Waterford are bought by Fleetwood owner Andy Pilley while Shamrock Rovers pass the watershed into the European group phase, getting grouped with KAA Gent, Molde and Djurgardens in the Conference League. Also in Europe, US World Cup winner Heather O'Reilly gives Shelbourne victory against their Slovenian hosts ZNK Pomurje.
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Substitute Lily Agg downs Finland and Denise O'Sullivan conquers Slovakia to dodge Ireland the complicated route to the World Cup. They head to Hampden Park but only after the men's team lose 2-1 there. Robbie Brady's stoppage-time penalty avoided further embarrassment against the 92nd-ranked Armenia and another inquest into Kenny's future. At least he backtracks on initially trumpeting the performance as exceptional.
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Finishing third in the Nations League group meant a third seeding in the Euro 2024 draw and that risk cut deep. France and the Netherlands, along with Greece, emerged from the draw in Frankfurt as Ireland's obstacles to a German reunion. National pride ensued in the form of Amber Barrett sinking the Scots to end the women's tournament drought. Patience paid off for Cork City's Colin Healy too, promoted at the second attempt.
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While the women plan for next year's showpiece matches against Australia, Canada and Nigeria – and Quinn marks her century with a goal in the 4-0 thumping of Morocco – the men try to halt their decline. Not so, for Martin Ødegaard runs the show during Norway's win in Dublin. Nothing of that calibre graced the Malta team that made Ireland work for a 1-0 win three days later. Derry overpower Duff and Shelbourne in the FAI Cup final but the Reds' women lift their trophy by seeing off the season's surprise packets of Athlone Town.
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Domestic football rests but the activity doesn't as Dermot Usher gains an 86% mandate from Cork City Foras members to assume control replete with investment and targets. Good news of the LOI registering a one-third increase in crowds is tainted to an extent by the fiasco of a resumed AGM that the FAI couldn't complete due to technical hitches. Pauw began the year as she started, in command and control, brushing off allegations of misconduct during her year in the US with flat denials, unequivocal support by her employers and RTÉ's manager of the year.
Irish Premier League debuts, especially starts for outfield players, are such an endangered species that Joe Hodge's promotion to the Wolves XI must be embraced.
Since the turn of the decade, only Norwich City pair Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele, Will Smallbone of Southampton, West Brom's Dara O'Shea and Nathan Collins from Burnley have entered that club.
Hodge had long been tipped to reach that mecca when, as a 15-year-old, he rejected his homeland of England to declare for Ireland. That reputation was enhanced at club level by being named Manchester City's Scholar of the Year.
A ball-playing midfielder with killer passing in his repertoire, injuries began to stunt his progress and after rejecting a contract extension at City, he arrived at Wolves nursing a double stress fracture in his back.
Disciplined rehabilitation earned him a place in Ireland's U21 team by the time of their Euro playoff in Israel two months ago, around the same time caretaker boss Steve Evans handed him three Premier League sub Outings.
Fears that ex-Real Madrid Julen Lopetegui would play safe when becoming permanent boss were dispelled when he started the dynamo at Everton on Monday. The Spaniard was full of praise for Hodge afterwards, noting his contribution to their 2-1 comeback victory.
Up next on Saturday is Manchester United but surely a senior Ireland debut against Latvia on March 23 - four days before the Euro 2024 qualification opener against France - is justified too.
Tension is already in the air ahead of the new women's premier season with new kids on the block Shamrock Rovers making a splash.
They've utilised the FAI's introduction of professional status by cherry-picking some of the finest gems from the traditional superpowers of the League they've re-entered after eight years. Title charges are the demand.
Peamount United and Athlone Town were both raided for selected stars in recent weeks but the most audacious influx was from double-holders Shelbourne.
They've lost Abbie Larkin, Shauna Fox, Jess Gargan, Amanda Budden and Lia O'Leary in the course of five days despite holding a pre-season meeting with the group.
The security of long-term contracts seemed to trump the allure of Champions League football. In the case of Budden, the goalkeeper was carrying over a suspension from last season's red card anyway.
Wexford, who finished third last season, are the one contender unaffected so far – repelling interest in veteran Kylie Murphy – but the Rovers shopping bonanza is far from over with the season not starting until early March.
While often a player is enticed by a rival abroad, mass exoduses are a tradition in Ireland.
Back in 1988, Jim McLaughlin brought his former Shamrock Rovers players Mick Neville, Paul Doolin, Noel Larkin, Kevin Brady and John Coady to Derry City, also for a new venture.
Then in 2005 there was the triple capture by Shelbourne of Bohemians' Glen Crowe, Bobby Ryan and Colin Hawkins while only last year Stephen O'Donnell succeeded in enlisting Robbie Benson, John Mountney and Sam Bone from his former club St Patrick's Athletic. Shels know the score, just as well as most.
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