Class of '73 reunited for 50th anniversary of first Ireland women's team

REUNION: The 1973 Republic of Ireland women's national team during a reunion at The Westin Hotel in Dublin. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

It took months of trawling but with days to spare all of the original Ireland women’s teams of 1973 were tracked down in time for Friday’s 50th anniversary reunion.

Women’s football is on a high with a first-ever major senior tournament, the World Cup, looming in summer, but the trailblazers had to pay their own way to Wales to become Ireland’s first-ever female internationals.