'I hadn't a clue who Gary was' - Abbie Larkin on breaking Kelly's World Cup record

Gary Kelly previously held the record when he played at 19.

NEW RECORD: Abbie Larkin became Ireland's youngest World Cup participant when she came off the bench against Australia. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

A blissful innocence recovered Abbie Larkin from her unawareness of whose record she had broken to become Ireland’s youngest World Cup participant.

Gary Kelly was 19, Larkin 18.

When Kelly won the last of his 53 caps in 2003, Larkin was still two years away from being born.

It offers a natural explanation as to why the dressing-room conversation following Thursday’s cameo swept over her head.

She was the oblivious bystander to her record dominating the discussion.

“The girls said something about Gary, and I hadn’t a clue who Gary was,” confessed the teen, stunned to be informed of her record-breaking feat.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know who this is!’. I don’t know if that was a bad thing or not. It was amazing hearing that from the girls.” 

Such was her impact on the bench in the last half hour as Ireland chased an equaliser against the co-host that she’s in the frame to be promoted for a starting slot against Canada.

Ireland took the arduous five-and-a-half hour flight from their Brisbane flight on Sunday to Perth, where they’ll meet the Olympic champions, held scoreless by Nigeria in their opening Group B fixture.

The youngest member of the squad is soaking up the experience.

“This it is my first World Cup and I am definitely taking in everything, enjoying every moment,” she said, in particular citing the joy of a 75,000 full-house against the Matildas.

“I was actually really nervous coming on against Australia. I just heard the fans screaming and I am thinking ‘oh my God’.

“It was like white noise really. Once I could hear my teammates, that was fine because it took me about five minutes to get the nerves out.” 

Italia ’90 fever had engulfed Larkin’s locality of Ringsend in Dublin, bunting and posters stretching across the River Liffey on the East Link bridge.

“When I left Dublin, there was only one flag on my balcony!,” she notes of the contrast.

“I got so many videos from my family and friends from home after the game. I didn’t even know there were that many people in Ringsend.

“It’s so overwhelming in a good way. The amount of people that actually support me, some people I haven’t a clue who they are and they’re just there supporting me. It’s just amazing.

Larkin is one of just two home-based players in the squad but her Shamrock Rovers teammate Áine O'Gorman will soon be the solitary representative as a queue of UK suitors have been waiting til a combination of her turning 18 in April and this transfer window arriving.

“England’s Women’s Super League is my dream,” she declares without a sinew of disrespect to the Irish pond she’s a big fish in. “That's something I'd be looking forward to in the future anyway.

“This World Cup will definitely give me exposure because I’m a young player. I wouldn’t cancel out any options even outside of England but I’ll see what happens after this tournament.”