KATIE McCABE revealed how her family and games of “hoodies for goalposts” inspired her football career.
The Republic of Ireland captain is closing in on her tenth anniversary with Arsenal, having joined the club in December 2015.
With the exception of a brief loan spell at Glasgow City, she has been an ever present for the Gunners, winning their Player of the Year twice.
The Dubliner has also won an FA Cup, two Super Leagues, and three League Cups during her time in North London.
In an interview with club media, the 29-year-old revealed how her upbringing back in Ireland prepared her for professional soccer.
She explained: “When I first started playing, coaching wasn’t strict as such.
“I remember there were always footwork drills, dribbling in and out of the cones, but the main message from my early coaching days was just to have fun and enjoy your football.
“If coaches take it too seriously when you’re young, I think you’d lose that element.
“Luckily for me, I had really good voluntary coaches around the community that were parents or friends of friends who made sure we all enjoyed it.
“In Ireland, Gaelic football is one of our main sports and we’ve got camogie as well.
“For me, my older brother Gary played football and I was also really close with my younger brother.
“We used to play after school for hours with two hoodies for goalposts. That’s what I look back on from my childhood.”
She played youth football in Kilnamanagh and Templeogue before joining Raheny United in 2011, with whom she won two WNL titles and two FAI Cups.
She went on trial with Chelsea but, after watching Ireland internationals Ciara Grant, Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracey, and Niamh Fahey playing for Arsenal in the FA Cup final, she opted for the Gunners.
At international level, she has won 96 caps for the Republic of Ireland and captained the Girls in Green at the 2023 World Cup.
And McCabe said it was the belief from her family that encouraged her to pursue her dream all the way.
She said: “My dad and my older brother started encouraging me more around the age of nine.
“I was the only girl in my local club, Kilnamanagh, and they saw that I was more advanced than the boys.
“My brother played for a team called Crumlin United and they wanted me to go down to join, where there was a bigger set up and a better group of lads.
“That was really daunting for me at the time because I had just got used to playing with one group of lads and had earned their respect, and then I had to start again.
“Having the support of those two, being at my first training session and settling in straight away when the boys could see that I was physical and athletic and could actually play. It naturally became more intense because I was playing for a top boys’ team and took my football seriously.
“I was about 15 when I found a senior women’s team: Raheny United.
“Playing senior football that young means you suddenly find yourself at the bottom of the barrel.
“You have to grow up quickly because you’re in an environment with grown women and competitive women at that.
“The first season I was there, we won a Cup final and then the Women’s National League in Ireland started, which was the first proper structured league the FAI had set up.
“From then on, I just made sure I was trying to get better and better and better.”
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