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Farrelly: I had to make move to get to the next level

Niamh Farrelly is glad she made the move to Scotland to further her football career. Photo: Sportsfile Expand

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Niamh Farrelly is glad she made the move to Scotland to further her football career. Photo: Sportsfile

Niamh Farrelly is glad she made the move to Scotland to further her football career. Photo: Sportsfile

Niamh Farrelly is glad she made the move to Scotland to further her football career. Photo: Sportsfile

David Kelly Twitter Email

For Niamh Farrelly, the night Peamount United’s Champions League hopes succumbed in a terrific struggle ultimately might have proven to be, literally, a game-changer for her development as a soccer player.

Having started 2020 as a midfielder, she soon emerged as one of the best central defenders in the country after Peamount boss James O’Callaghan decided to slot her in alongside Claire Walsh.

Ironically for Peamount, the move back would propel her forwards; in the aftermath of her stellar European display against crack full-time outfit Glasgow City, their boss, Scott Booth, had seen sufficient evidence to pose a pivotal question.

Would she like to take the next step in her career progression that her talent demanded?

By the time the 21-year-old was eyeing up what would be Peamount’s league-defining win against Shelbourne, she had made her mind up.

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Although the domestic league continues to develop, for the ambitious Lucan woman, it was clearly not doing so with sufficient speed to satisfy her own sporting needs.

And so she took the plunge, penning a contract until 2023 with the 13-time champions, frustrated to leave the Irish double winners but cognisant that this was a vital stage in her development.

And, given Irish coach Vera Pauw’s encouragement as she pondered her next move, she may not be the last either.

“It was always an ambition of mine to go full-time,” Farrelly admits from her Irish base ahead of this week’s friendly double-header against Denmark and Belgium.

“I didn’t realise it may come so soon as it did. But when they got in touch with me, I thought maybe now this is the time to go and step it up a bit.

“Especially since my goal is to get into the Irish team. When you look around at all the players here, they are all in a professional environment and training much more than I was at Peamount.

“So in order for me to break in to the Irish team, I felt it was the right time to go. I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing that I had to leave.

“You have the likes of Áine O’Gorman who has over 100 caps and has spent her entire career in Ireland. But I suppose it is frustrating if you want to take that next professional step, it is not there in Ireland.

“Some girls want to do it, some girls don’t. The league has come on a lot even since I started at 16.

“The standard is there and, in the next few years, hopefully it can come on in leaps and bounds, become semi-professional and then professional at some stage.

“Obviously you would be more content at home with your friends and family around you, that support system.

“But moving away at a young age can only be good for you if I’m being honest. I’m meeting new people, playing with different players from different countries. You don’t really get that in Ireland. So I’m delighted to have done it.”

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Her impact was almost immediate, even if delayed by a few months due to the shutdown of the women’s game in Scotland, after notching a goal and a player-of-the-match gong for her new Glasgow City side yesterday in the 3-0 win at Celtic, which keeps them top with Rangers.

She has already made a difference and the difference can make her, too.

“I’m on the pitch five times a week and then a match at the weekend, whereas back home it is only twice a week with a match at the weekend. So that is a big leap and the main difference. I do feel that if the clubs here in Ireland had the contact time with the managers and coaches that professional clubs abroad have, they could definitely compete. Because we do have the facilities, I feel.

“If I’m training more, I’m playing more and that can only make me a better player. I’m in the camp here and surrounded by professionals with so much experience, who are training most days, like Katie McCabe and Louise Quinn. I aspire to be as good as them.

“And I felt that, at home in Ireland, that wasn’t possible in terms of making the leap. So the best option for me was to move.”

Irish Independent

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