Teen star Abbie Larkin counting the milestones
Republic of Ireland's Abbie Larkin poses for a portrait at their team hotel in Tbilisi ahead of their UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Play-off first round first leg match against Georgia on Friday. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Bar Aiden McGeady’s twinkled-toed winner a decade ago, Tbilisi evokes misery for Ireland fans.
Successive draws under Martin O’Neill and Mick McCarthy decelerated Ireland’s qualification tilts, raising the reality of Georgian midfield supremacy.
Ireland’s women, including Abbie Larkin, only have memories of the long trek, for their 9-0 walloping of the hosts smoothed them towards an ultimately triumphant World Cup playoff.
All of 28 months on and Larkin is still a teenager.
Everything else that’s changed has been for the better, elevating her to full-time professional level, initially with Glasgow City and, currently, Crystal Palace.
Her club strides have brought her from the Scottish top flight into the English championship and this season, the mecca of Women’s Super League.
Small, incremental steps for the youngest ever Irish player to grace a World Cup but recalling milestones like the Mikheil Meskhi II Stadium remind Larkin of how far she’s come.
“I still think about it to this day,” the 19-year-old says her sole goal, scored four games into an 18-cap haul.
“It was a nice little header. I don't really score with my head so that was definitely a memorable one.
“I mean, it was amazing to score your first international goal. And we’re coming to face them again. It's a dream come true, isn't it?”
If there’s a chance of adding to her solitary goal, the next five days should be opportune. The quirks of Uefa’s new Nations League system pits Ireland against the team ranked 119th in the world. Only North Macedonia, Moldova, Cyprus, Armenia, Andorra and Liechtenstein are lower, none a women’s football stronghold, to borrow a dear departed commentator’s one-liner.
Ireland are in a different stratosphere, their major tournament breakthrough in 2023 for the World Cup heaping expectation on a team containing generational talents in Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan.
The argument over ensuring there’s a domestic pipeline to succeed those stars continues to rage but Larkin is one of the more successful exports, having spent most of her career at Shelbourne before a shorter stint with Shamrock Rovers.
“I think Glasgow was definitely a challenge, it being my first time moving away from home,” the Dubliner summarises about her journey.
“I knew it was going to be tough but, looking back on it now, it definitely helped me grow as a player and gave me a new perspective on how football is, not just in Ireland.
“Moving to Palace has kept the growth and development going. I went there in January to challenge myself and I think I’m definitely doing that.”
She was exposed to reality on the opening night against five-in-a-row title winners Chelsea. They were five goals into a 7-0 pasting when she entered the fray.
That rude awakening for the Championship winners eased. They’ve since claimed four points from four games, including a win at Leicester City.
“I’m really happy I’m getting more minutes this season,” Larkin noted about mixing it with the best players in the world.
“Everyone knows how high the standards and the intensity levels are in the WSL - definitely a big step up from the Championship.
“Crystal Palace, our club is more of a possession-based team and we had more of the ball in the Championship. We need to realise we’re not going to have as much of the ball now. We’ve just got to work on our defending.”
Her Ireland team won’t need to worry about defending against the minnows, either on Friday or next Tuesday’s second leg at Tallaght. That can wait for the finale, against either Wales or Slovakia, for a place at next July’s Euros in Switzerland.
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