Katie McCabe: 'I didn’t know women’s football existed. But ever since that day I was like, I can do that too'
RISING STAR: 6th of October 2014; Raheny United's Katie McCabe who was presented with the Continental Tyres Women's National League Player of the Month Award for September. FAI Headquarters, Abbotstown, Dublin. Picture credit: Barry Cregg / SPORTSFILE
The next few weeks are likely to be the biggest few weeks of Katie McCabe’s career.
At club level, she is currently preparing for Arsenal’s huge – potentially title deciding – clash against Manchester United on Wednesday night before the Gunners travel to Germany for their Champions League semi-final first leg against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Then at international level there is one last training camp and two final friendlies against Zambia and France to come before McCabe leads the Republic of Ireland out at the Women’s World Cup in the opening game against the hosts Australia.
But amidst the 27-year old’s busy schedule for club and country, she has taken the opportunity to reflect on where her football journey began back in Kilnamanagh.
“Growing up, I always looked up to my older brother, who played football at a really high level in Ireland,” McCabe told Arsenal’s official website.
“He was the first one who got me involved in football, along with my dad. They brought me around to my first boys’ team and they were there to support me through that because obviously, as the only girl going into a boys’ team, it can be quite isolating.
“But I always kind of had their support right from the very start. And initially, they put a ball at my feet and then helped me along the way.
“My brother never, ever put pressure on me, you know. He always said, 'Look, do your thing and let the football do the talking.' Because, as I said, as a young girl in a team full of boys, you get judged. It’s just how it is.
“You’re the only girl rocking up to a boys’ session and they’re all kind of looking at you, until you have a ball at your feet, and you stick one in the back of the net, and then you automatically gain that respect.”
Katie’s brother Gary enjoyed a successful career in the League of Ireland, winning an FAI Cup with Sligo Rovers in 2010 before making the move across the country where he would win the Premier Division title with Shamrock Rovers in 2011.
It was around that time when Katie signed for Raheny United, who were later renamed Shelbourne, before the move that was “everything I’d ever dreamed of” followed in 2015 when she signed for Arsenal.
In Gary, Katie had the perfect role model to look up to and now she is hoping to follow her brother’s example by inspiring her younger sibling Lauren, who also has the benefit of getting to watch Women’s football live more often than her older sister.
“I remember my dad put the Women’s FA Cup final on and at the time it was the one game a year that was on TV. I think it was on BBC and it was Arsenal playing against Everton. I must have been about 12 at the time,” recalls Katie.
“He was like, 'Sit down and watch – that’s the women playing!' and I was like 'What? Women? Arsenal, Everton, what?' I had no idea, and he said, 'Look, there are Irish girls playing in it.' And then that opened my eyes up to Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy.
"I honestly didn’t know women’s football even existed. All I did was watch the Premier League and the Ireland men’s games, but ever since that day I was like, 'I can do that too.'
"I remember then, a couple months later, Ireland were playing in Dublin in an old stadium. I got a ticket, and I got Emma Byrne to sign it. I just remember that interaction they had with me when I was that young, and I still try to maintain having that interaction with fans when I finish games to this day, because I know how much it meant to me when Emma Byrne signed my ticket.
"So, I always try to make sure to do that now when I’m playing for Ireland or Arsenal. For my sister Lauren now as well, having a female role model to look up to in myself, she sees the opportunity.
“I saw the opportunity that men had as footballers when I was her age, looking up to my brother, but now she sees the possibility that women can do it too. That’s obviously a great thing.
“She has such a good attitude and dedication towards football itself. But I always say to her, ‘Make sure you enjoy it and never put any pressure on yourself. Because that’s the reason why you started playing football in the first place’.”
Katie knows better than most the importance of just enjoying the sport as it hasn’t always been easy going for the talented Dubliner.
“I loved playing football in Ireland. I loved the team I played for. I loved the people I played with, my team-mates, and I’m still so close to them to this day. Then I obviously got that move to Arsenal, which was everything I’d ever dreamed of.
“That’s where the kind of the big struggle hit – coming into this team of legends as a young kid and not really knowing where I stood, or what I had to do to improve.
“Finding my feet over in London was difficult, too. There was a period of six to eight months when I wasn’t loving training anymore. You could argue that I fell out of love with it a little bit,” she admits.
“Being a young player, I couldn’t really figure out on my own what it was that wasn’t going right for me. And then for me to make the decision to go on loan (to Glasgow City in 2017) and just kind of figure it all out, I just wanted to play no matter where it was or who it was with.
“I just wanted to play and ultimately that led me to move to Glasgow and I absolutely fell in love with the game again, just playing week in, week out.
“It was about figuring out what I needed to do to go back to Arsenal with a bit more bite and a bit more grit so I could fight my way back into the team.”
It is a fight she won convincingly and there may be even bigger victories to come in the new few weeks.
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