Hannah Dingley to leave FAI with Eileen Gleeson potentially set to return

The association was rocked by the resignation of Canham merely three years into his tenure. Dingley has lasted only a year.

FAI Head of Women & Girls' Football Hannah Dingley. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.

Hannah Dingley is following chief football officer Marc Canham out the FAI door, opening up the possibility of a comeback for Eileen Gleeson.

Staff weren’t aware of Dingley’s notice to quit. She participated in Canham’s weekly conference update zoom call on Monday before providing input to the National League Committee on Tuesday.

It’s understood she has agreed to take up a post at a major English Super League club in a developmental role.

The association was rocked by the resignation of Canham merely three years into his tenure, leaving behind a 12-year football pathways plan he’d launched in February 2024.

Dingley has lasted only a year. She joined the FAI last May following her stint as the first-ever female to manage a men’s senior team in England as interim boss of Forest Green Rovers.

Her stint as head of women’s and girls’ football, however, was underwhelming with the recent ‘action plan’ for the sector loaded with generalities but lacking measures to bolster the female game in the aftermath of the 2023 World Cup.

Dingley fulfilled the role created by Gleeson being promoted to the women’s national team, initially as caretaker and then permanent manager.

Although her contract wasn’t renewed following last December’s Euro playoff defeat to Wales, she remained an FAI employee as part of a fallback clause in the original transfer.

Canham and chief executive David Courell recently refused to discuss anything about Gleeson’s involvement in the FAI but she may return to the executive team.

There is even the possibility of her stepping in as Canham’s interim replacement. His deputy Shane Robinson was favourite to slot in but interviews with other internal contenders have been held.