“The breakthrough.”
George Hamilton’s words captured both the moment at Hampden Park and a moment in time for the women’s game in this country.
“Now it’s O’Sullivan. And there’s the run of Barrett. And Barrett’s given herself a chance here . . .”
(The nation held its breath – we already knew what to do. A Donegal man had us in a similar moment in 1990.)
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“Amber Barrett . . . in on goal . . . AMBER BARRETT (Yessss), makes the breakthrough!”
Didn’t she just!
But what will the legacy be? Will it be more than a defining moment for what a line in The Wolfe Tones’ Celtic Symphony actually means?
Over the last few days, social media has been awash with clubs promoting their girl’s academies and teams. In the build-up to Shelbourne’s FAI Cup semi-final against Waterford, Shelbourne boss Damien Duff talked about sitting with his 10-year-old daughter on Tuesday night, watching on as the Girls in Green booked their spot in a World Cup finals for the first time in Irish soccer history.
How powerful a moment for all those little girls to have been able to watch that game and visualise themselves in that green (or orange) jersey? How powerful for all aspiring female coaches to see it happen under the watch of a female head coach?
The importance of the visibility in this moment, and what it looked like, cannot be underestimated.
Like the composed and eloquent words of goalscorer Amber Barrett, whose connection with her home community resonated so authentically.
Elite level sport gives a constant lesson in rollercoaster highs and lows, and the speed at which things can move from one stage to the other. With the increased visibility comes extra responsibility, greater scrutiny and harsher, even polarised judgments.
Perception biases are far more challenging for females in football than they are for males.
During my time at Chelsea, this was something I reflected on with manager Emma Hayes. At that time, the lens of scrutiny in men’s football was far sharper than it was on the women’s game. For females in the men’s game it is pointy, because there are so few.
As the visibility and media exposure increases, so too does the analysis, opinion and judgment. In the wake of those videos emerging of the celebrations in the Irish dressing room, Chloe Mustaki was asked on Sky Sports about the potential need for the team to have a history lesson – the mature reflection and emotional intelligence of her response was impeccable.
And whilst there may not be requirements for history lessons, there will be space for education to help the players, and others associated with the team, prepare for the resilience and support they will need to deal with the increased level of scrutiny.
It is the same for young male players breaking through. Everyone makes mistakes and gets things wrong. That failure is such an important part of the journey to success, and it’s those harsh lessons that shape the person you become.
But for these girls now, errors are in the public eye, and many people only want to enhance the negative aspects.
We’ve seen that with Harry Maguire. A ruthless pursuit of highlighting errors damages the player both as a footballer and as a person.
Perception biases exist too. If you’re a Liverpool fan, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Steven Gerrard’s career and how do you feel about it? If you’re not a Liverpool fan, what comes to your mind and how do you feel about it?
Sometimes people see what they want to see.
So when we consider what the legacy of this great moment in time is for women and girls in Irish football, we must see with equity. We must give them all a fair chance to succeed and not make it harder for them than it needs to be.
We must lift them up and not kick them down. We must create a safety net for them to fall into when they make mistakes and help them get back up, reflect and learn, and encourage them to go again. That is what will make them great.
Courtney Brosnan in Kiev in October 2020 vs Courtney Brosnan in Glasgow in October 2022. Somewhere in the middle was great coaching, telling her to keep going, telling her that the mistake would not define her. In fact it would make her better. Somewhere there was a coach who kept faith in Courtney and told her she didn’t need to be perfect, just to work hard to be better.
These players and staff are going into a space that they have never been before. They are about to take Irish football to a level it has never been before. They are going to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Imagine how valuable these experiences will prove, and not just for themselves, but also for the girls who will follow. It might not turn out to be perfect, but it’s definitely going to happen! The legacy is to keep making it better.
