Only one FAI board member backed Vera Pauw to stay

For the FAI to optimise the female game, stitching the structure from U15s up to senior level, an alternative leader was essential in their view.

EXITING THE STAGE: Vera Pauw's historic achievement in qualifying for the World Cup was not enough to keep her in the job. Picture: Inpho/Dan Sheridan

They belatedly got around to applying a lick of paint to the FAI headquarters in Abbotstown, white dash covering the exterior greyness that gave the single-story premises the look of a soviet building from the communist era.

It had been in the same state since Michel Platini graced his friend John Delaney for the official opening in 2007, save for the odd letter of the association name dropping off as a metaphor for the dereliction inside too.