Cadbury have unveiled Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team captain, Katie McCabe, as a brand ambassador to launch a new campaign dedicated to supporting Irish women’s grassroots football.
The ‘Become a Supporter and a Half’ promotion means that when you buy Cadbury Dairy Milk exclusively in participating Spar stores nationwide before 5th May 2022, Cadbury will donate a portion of the profits up to €50,000 to grassroots women’s football supporting clubs to make upgrades to facilities where they’re needed most.
Cadbury, alongside Sky and Aviva in particular, have been an important part of the story of the team as it has risen to national prominence and support throughout the current World Cup qualifying campaign.
That support led to 251,000 tuning into the early evening broadcast of the team’s draw in Gothenburg against World Ranked number two Sweden last week.
The campaign now rolls onto Georgia and then home for a play-off determining clash with Finland on September 1st.
McCabe was speaking to the media yesterday and was amused by the fact that we were obsessed by the idea of playing that game at the Aviva Stadium rather than in Tallaght.
Vera Pauw’s first game in charge was one of the last games played in Tallaght before the lockdown changed the nature of how home crowds can interact with players but still the atmosphere there was a special thing for fans and players and she sees no reason in switching home venues mid-campaign.
“Tallaght is our home, we love playing there,” she said after we had asked the question. “I think until we start selling that out, there’s no need to jump the gun and start playing in the Aviva.”
“I’m not saying we should never play there as the women’s national team, not at all. I do think if we want to continue to grow the game – especially in Ireland – Aviva Stadium games would be nice, but let’s kick it off with a friendly against England or the USA or something, not in the middle of a qualifying campaign.”
She went on to say that she would much rather play before a full house of 8,000 in Tallaght for the Finland game, and engage with the fans afterwards than in front of a quarter or half full Aviva Stadium.
That makes sense from a sporting and also a growth perspective.
The Women’s game is heading in a relentless upward trajectory but jumping too soon and coming up short in terms of a crowd’s willingness to jump with you would not be a winner in our mind.
If Tallaght was selling out consistently then yes but the demand for nighttime games does not mix yet with the fan base we need to grow of younger generations.
That the LGFA will draw 56,000 to Croke Park for an All Ireland Final, on a Sunday afternoon in the summer, shows what is possible but perhaps it will take the free to air coverage of the Summer Euros to convince football fans, or even a World Cup participation next year in Australia and New Zealand, to make that next great leap forward.
Sweden choose to play their games in a 14,500 seater stadium as opposed to the National Stadium and the idea of creating more demand than can be satisfied is generally a positive way to ensure the long term growth that we want.
Northern Ireland attracted 15,348 to Windsor Park last week for the visit of England, almost a sell-out of that ground.
This will come but as McCabe is well aware the timing of when you take your shot is all important.
