Carla Ward’s satnav will need to be in good working order for the new WSL and WSL2 seasons in England, both of which get under way this weekend, because with so many of her squad moving clubs during the summer, she’ll have several new scouting ports of call.
Thirteen of the group named by the Republic of Ireland head coach for the team’s last games, against the Netherlands and France in June, have since transferred to new employers, with several more who weren’t included in that squad also changing clubs.
The bulk of them will be playing their football in the second tier, WSL2, this season where close to two dozen Irish players will feature. Eleven Irish players are now with WSL clubs, although Manchester City’s newest recruit, Aoibhe Brennan from Bohemians, will start life in their under-21 set-up. Denise O’Sullivan ended her brief enough stay with Liverpool to return to the United States where she is now playing with Gotham FC in the NWSL.
The standout move of the summer was, of course, Katie McCabe changing her London address when she left Arsenal, after 11 years with the club, for Chelsea. Her goal will be to get Chelsea back on track after Manchester City ended their run of six WSL titles on the trot last season.
Another transfer that caught the eye was Emily Murphy’s move from Newcastle to Brighton, the forward returning to the top flight having made her debut for Chelsea as a 16-year-old back in 2019. Murphy, and her new Brighton team-mate Caitlin Hayes, could probably have done without their manager Dario Vidosic leaving a week before the start of the new season, Spaniard Arturo Ruiz his replacement.
Promotion from the WSL2 last season gives Hayley Nolan and Abbie Larkin another crack in the WSL with Crystal Palace, a year after they were relegated, while Charlton’s rise will see goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse and Lucia Lobato, the former Galway and Irish underage international defender, in the big league. A well-earned promotion it is for Whitehouse too – she kept a clean sheet and saved four penalties in Charlton’s play-off triumph against Leicester back in May and was named in the WSL2 team of the year.
But most Irish interest will be in the WSL2, with three clubs – Burnley, Leicester and Sheffield United – now numbering four Irish internationals each in their ranks.
Leanne Kiernan, Jessie Stapleton, Tara O’Hanlon and Jess Ziu have all dropped down a division in search of more game-time, while Maria Reynolds and Aoibheann Clancy have left the domestic league to join Sheffield United and Watford, respectively.
The loss of the latter pair, as well as Brennan to Manchester City, continues the exodus of talent from the league at home; talk of Reynolds being a record sale by an Irish club less impressive than it sounds – the “five figure” sum involved is said to be a lot closer to €10,000 than €99,999.
“But that is the gap that we need to bridge between playing at home in Ireland and coming over here,” says Saoirse Noonan, who joined newly promoted WSL2 side Watford from Celtic this summer. “It is a jump, but it is so important that this many of us are now in full-time football. We’re living and breathing football and playing as professionals – and I think we need that. That makes life easier for Carla, getting to choose from players working in that full-time environment.”
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Noonan’s progress will be an interesting watch, the Cork woman returning to England’s second division having spent a couple of seasons there with Durham before moving to Glasgow. Having been top scorer for Celtic in her two seasons with the club, she wasn’t short of offers, but spoke with the Irish manager before making her choice.
“Yeah, I told Carla about the options I had and she let me know her feelings and what she thought was best for me. Watford always felt like the best move for me, they’ve just been promoted from the third division and are very ambitious. Carla felt going there would help me develop and get better, and that’s what she wants for all of us. She wants us to keep on pushing to get to the next level.”
Ward names her squad for October’s World Cup qualifying play-off against Kazakhstan at the end of the month. If Ireland can get over that hurdle they will play Belgium or Poland over two legs in November and December – the prize for the winners will be qualification for the finals in Brazil next summer.
She will, then, be hoping for a clean bill of health come squad-choosing time and a bright start to the season for the contenders.
WSL – Aston Villa: Anna Patten; Brighton: Caitlin Hayes, Emily Murphy; Charlton: Sophie Whitehouse, Lucia Lobato; Chelsea: Katie McCabe; Crystal Palace: Hayley Nolan, Abbie Larkin; Everton: Courtney Brosnan; Manchester City (under-21s): Aoife Brennan; West Ham: Megan Walsh.
WSL2 – Burnley: Tyler Toland, Jamie Finn, Jess Hennessy, Kiera Sena; Durham: Dee Bradley; Leicester: Jess Ziu, Jessie Stapleton, Heather Payne, Katie Keane; Newcastle: Leanne Kiernan, Aoife Mannion; Nottingham Forest: Chloe Mustaki; Sheffield United: Lucy Quinn, Maria Reynolds, Joy Ralph, Lia O’Leary; Southampton: Grace Moloney; Sunderland: Izzy Atkinson, Marissa Sheva; Watford: Aoibheann Clancy, Saoirse Noonan; Wolves: Mel Filis, Tara O’Hanlon.