Tyler Toland: Getting to major tournament with Ireland 'all any girl wants to do'

The Blackburn skipper is relishing her chance to make history against Wales.

SECOND CHANCE: Tyler Toland is a key part of Eileen Gleeson's set-up. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Two tournament playoffs in a row illustrate Ireland’s rising stock in the women’s game but there’s no comparison for Tyler Toland.

Whereas the last time they were locked in a shootout for the World Cup when Toland was an outcast, she’s very much to the fore in this tilt at reaching next year’s Euros.

It’s been documented how the midfielder made two Ireland debuts of sorts against Northern Ireland. The first in 2017 was seen as a launchpad for the 16-year-old on her way to Manchester City but her cap count was frozen at 13 for four years following a fallout with manager Vera Pauw.

Once Pauw’s former assistant Eileen Gleeson took charge 14 months ago, Toland was drafted in from the cold. The retrospective excuse of ‘footballing decisions’ accounting for her exile didn’t wash as many a player similarly on the fringes at club level was picked ahead of her during her omission.

Things had gotten too personal and as Ireland’s star soared, less frequent were the queries thrown at Pauw.

Toland, through all of this, is still only 23. Her tally of appearances for Ireland has swelled to 20 and she’s captain of Blackburn Rovers.

Gleeson is clearly a fan to the point that a role in this playoff against Wales, either in Friday’s first leg at Cardiff City’s Stadium or Lansdowne Road next Tuesday, is probable. Toland seems simply relieved that her shot at a major tournament hasn’t gone.

“Now to have the opportunity to be part of the squad qualifying for a major tournament, that is all any girl wants to do,” said the Donegal woman.

“All they want to be is playing for their country and pulling on the green shirt. I am just really thankful to be here and really excited by the week ahead and what we can achieve.

“I think football is a game of many emotions. There can be bad times, there can be good times, but it is just about sticking at it.

“I think it is important to be thankful for where you are and I am just really thankful to be here and excited for the future in the green shirt.” 

 That future is shaped by her past. Toland was a helpless bystander when Ireland beat another Celtic cousin, Scotland, just over two years to seal a World Cup berth.

“I was at home watching it on the TV,” she recalled about that famous occasion.

ON YOUR BIKE: from left, Tyler Toland, Jessie Stapleton and Megan Campbell during a Republic of Ireland women's gym and prehab session. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

“It was just unbelievable to see us as a country qualifying for a major tournament like that.

“That is where we want to get to, to always be expected to qualify for tournaments. And the next step is the Euros and it will be an historic night for the country and for us. That’s the end goal and we are all fully focused on that.” 

 Expectancy is an unfamiliar concept for Ireland. Rankings suggest the journey to Switzerland next July should be completed at the national stadium next Tuesday but sport doesn’t always conform to trends.

“We do have the belief and the confidence within the dressing room that we can do it,” added Toland.

“You can never take any team for granted. And if you look at the players of Ireland and Wales on paper, we are matched up equally. We are all playing at a similar standard. But, without a shadow of doubt, we do have full confidence.”