Another red letter day for the Football Association of Ireland will be remembered for its leadership having to deny that contractual promises were made to former assistant coach Colin Healy before they decided on Carla Ward as the new manager of the women’s national team.
Ward is an outstanding coach, making her appointment a statement of intent from FAI director of football Marc Canham and chief executive David Courell that failure to qualify for Euro 2025 will not slow the march of this Katie McCabe-led squad towards the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
Healy released a 1,000-word statement two hours before Ward was unveiled at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday afternoon. This ensured a repeat scenario of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s arrival in Dublin as the men’s manager last July, when his press conference was dominated by Canham and Courell having to defend the association’s reputation.
Eventually, Ward was guided into a changing room under the east stand to switch the focus back to football and how she intends to utilise McCabe’s lethal left foot.
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“I said to Katie last night that I want to sit down with her, probably after Sunday’s game [Arsenal host Crystal Palace], that we’re going to talk about how do we get the best out of her,” said Ward. “I have something in mind. I’m not going to say what because we haven’t had that conversation.
“I’ve seen her play a certain role for Arsenal, which I think she can be so effective in for the national team. But it’s making sure there’s players for other positions. I think Katie can be utilised in a different way.”
The Irish captain was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or in 2023 after several stunning goals for Arsenal coming off the right wing.
“There is something potentially we might look at.”
All will be revealed when Turkey come to Tallaght for the Nations League opener on February 21st.
At Aston Villa, Ward’s innovative approach saw England full back Rachel Daly transformed into one of the most prolific strikers in the Women’s Super League.
“Getting that over the line with the board was difficult,” Ward said, “because trying to get them to pay for what they saw as a right back for that much money. I said trust me. When she scored two on the first day of the season against City, I was like brilliant.”
The FAI have put their trust in Ward, allowing her to bring in former Manchester City coach Alan Mahon while keeping a connection to Eileen Gleeson’s management by retaining Emma Byrne as goalkeeper coach.
“Alan’s success and reputation speaks for itself,” Ward said of the twice-capped Ireland international. “He has won everything. He has been assistant manager to three different managers at Manchester City in the last 12 or 13 years. His knowledge is exceptional. He adds strengths to my weaknesses, I add strengths to his weaknesses, so I think it is a really good fit.”
Ireland have essentially benefited from Ward wanting more time to raise her five-year-old daughter Hartley. “Around Christmas time [2023] I was putting my little girl to bed. She said to me ‘am I off school tomorrow?’ and I said ‘yes, it’s Saturday’. She asked me ‘are you off?’ and I said ‘no, I’m at football’. She said ‘but Mummy, when am I going to spend some time with you?’
“My heart sank, it was an awful moment. We always say everything we do is for our kids, but I wasn’t seeing her or spending time with her, so that was the tipping point. I felt energy withdrawing. I went to [Aston Villa] and they said ‘no, you can’t go’. But then there was a bigger conversation about what I needed. It wasn’t until I stepped away that I realised the time spent with your kids is unrivalled.
“It’s been tough, but this suits.”
The 41-year-old will commute from Sheffield, where she is well placed to watch Irish players at English clubs while helping to develop the game in Ireland during regular trips to Abbotstown.
“The good news is the FAI has a strategy and a plan of how they can close that gap, and I certainly presented how I believe we can close that gap which I can’t get into just yet, but I think it’s a strong plan. Obviously Hannah Dingley is head of women’s and girls’ football, I was her captain many moons ago. I want to work closely with her to develop things.”
Dingley, who replaced Gleeson as the FAI head of women’s football, is due to release a new strategic plan.
Despite the latest conflict between Healy and the FAI, the appointments of Ward and Mahon provide proof that the McCabe generation will come into their prime years with the best coaching imaginable. Also, the reliance on an ultra-defensive back five under Vera Pauw and Gleeson is to be abandoned.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played five at the back, apart from Chelsea and Arsenal away when we parked the bus so to speak. I’m more of a back four.”
Style of play? “Energy is number one. You can’t say a Carla Ward team is not exciting, whether it be good or bad!
“We like the players to play with a lot of freedom. What you’ll see from my team now compared to previous years is a very different way of playing.”
Ward is a serial achiever, bringing Sheffield United, Birmingham City and Villa to new heights before a quick stint under USA coach Emma Hayes last summer won her a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
In that sense, this has been a very good week for the FAI.
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