Much-travelled soccer player hits half century of Irish Caps

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

GALWAY Women’s FC captain Méabh de Búrca achieved a significant milestone last week when she secured her 50th international cap in the Republic of Ireland’s 2017 Euro qualifier against Spain. It was just reward for a woman who eats, drinks and breathes the sport.

It’s been a while since Talking Sport sat down with the Republic of Ireland international – eight years in fact – and at that time de Burca was just beginning to hit the headlines as one of the sport’s emerging stars, having captained the Galway & District League ladies team to the Manchester Umbro final, where they were beaten 1-0 by Everton, and led them into the Champions League.

Exciting times but distant memories now for the Galway Women’s FC captain, who has had some personal journey in the interim. “I don’t know where to start since then,” she says. “I moved away in 2009 for what I thought would be a year and a half but it ended up being four and a half.”

Having finished her Commerce degree at NUIG in 2008, she then undertook an FAI training course affiliated to FAS in Castlebar. The aim was simple. She wanted to play for the Republic of Ireland senior team and this allowed her to train full-time – often twice a day – and improve her skill-set.

“It was really good for me. The boys there were of a really high level. I played with boys who had just come back from England or were looking to go professional. It was geared at those boys who might have wanted to go to college or to give them options outside of soccer.”

Upon the conclusion of the course, and qualifying as a gym instructor, it was time to explore other options. “A coach in America had come over to watch me play with the (Republic of Ireland) U-19s a few years before – while I was in college here – and had asked me to go over.

“I was a bit young at the time. I finished school when I was 16 and I finished college when I was 19. In 2009 though I was ready to go and I left Galway.”

By now, she had established herself in the Irish squad and the FAI had committed to flying her home for international duty. Consequently, without fear or favour, she headed to the USA to pursue a Masters in Business Administration and Sports Management at the University of New Haven.

She explains one of the underlining reasons for her departure was that there was no national league for the women’s game in this country at the time and, despite playing locally with Salthill Devon, she felt the lack of national exposure might impact down the line on her international career.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.