As part of the 50-year anniversary celebrations of the Ireland Women’s National Team, the Football Association of Ireland has committed to honour all players who have represented the nation at senior women’s level. In order to recognise the contributions of so many women involved with the National Team over the last five decades, every player who featured for the senior team in an official game will receive a one-off commemorative cap that will feature a unique 50-Year crest. The awarding of a cap to an international player dates back to the 1870s and remains a symbolic gesture, as well as a prized keepsake. This initiative will ensure that all players who played for Ireland since 1973 will be recognised with a one-off cap that will represent their involvement with the team. Another special event to mark the 50-year anniversary of the WNT will see a reunion of the first ever team, who beat Wales 3-2 on May 13, 1973, and the first team to play a home game, where Ireland secured a 4-1 win over Northern Ireland on June 30, 1973 in Dublin. The players involved in both games will be invited to an event in early May and will also be special guests in Tallaght Stadium on July 6 when the current Ireland team take on France in their send-off game before departing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Brilliant that all WNT players will be honoured as part of 50-Year Anniversary ☘️
Every player to play for Ireland WNT in an official game, from 1973-2023, will receive a one-off commemorative cap.#COYGIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/mmETaQg0xv— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 30, 2023
To launch this initiative, a photocall was held in Merrion Square with five players who represented Ireland in different decades: Linda Gorman, Jackie McCarthy-O’Brien, Sue Hayden, Olivia O’Toole and Ellen Molloy. Ireland WNT Manager Vera Pauw said: “It is so important to show appreciation to those who went before us and helped to drive women’s football forward. I’m grateful to the work that managers like Noel King, Sue Ronan and Colin Bell did before me and I know that our team acknowledges the impact that former players had on raising standards for them. “We try to make time for the women who have helped to shape what women’s football is now in Ireland and it is brilliant to see people like Paula Gorham, Linda Gorman, Olivia O’Toole, Emma Byrne and many others at our games, at promotional events and continuing to be fantastic ambassadors for our team and women’s football as a whole. I am proud that I have been asked to help to take this next step in honouring these amazing women – we stand on their shoulders. I want to thank them for what they have done for the game during a time when they did not get the kind of visibility that they deserved.” Any player who represented the Ireland Women’s National Team at senior level in an official game since 1973 can contact the FAI with their details by emailing [email protected]
