Down the years we have seen the naming of squads for major tournaments take a few twists and turns, inspired by social media. This morning when the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team squad for this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup ‘dropped’ it raised the bar.
Not only on an Irish scale but on a global one.
This group is special, with a manager that the country has taken to its heart, and it is going to a major tournament for the first time.
Lot’s to play with there and to factor into the announcement but talk about getting it pitch perfect.
The planning for what this meant not only as a functional news story but as a piece of storytelling that would reverberate through Irish sporting circles, clubs, pick-up games and school playgrounds was not lost on the team charged with bringing it to life at the FAI and through their agency Fifty-Three Six.
Add in the fact that the final selection was not going to be confirmed, from a potential 33 players that were in the mix and you can only imagine the tension.
“We thought we had got something special but you can never be sure until it goes public,” said the FAI’s Orlagh NÃ Chorcorain speaking to Sport for Business today.
“The reaction has been incredible, nothing less than the team deserves.”
At time of writing it has been viewed 1.8 million times on Twitter alone and that number is rising rapidly.
The emotional impact of the voiceover, the imagery, and the idea of the young girl calling out her heroes’ names as she runs down an empty pitch and shoots into the net is powerful.
Likewise the reveal of the player’s images and names coming to life on walls of Tallaght Stadium, the Aviva Dressing Room, buildings and other places around Ireland.
Given the tight turnaround from the decision to the production, there were some nervy moments before pushing it live at 10 AM today.
“We always triple-check everything,” said Fifty-Three Six co-founder Tom Fox. “I’d say we did that 50 times on this and it was still nerve-wracking making sure that everything was right.”
“We obviously did not know the final selection until the players did,” said Fifty-Three Six co-founder Tom Fox.
“So we had every possibility covered off ready to narrow it down quickly once the final decisions had been made.”
“The creative side was brilliant to work on with the FAI team and our own team here. Lyra singing the backing track was spot on for what we wanted to achieve and the young girl scoring the goal is a genuine player. Maybe in World Cups of the future, she will be one of the young girls inspired to stay involved and go all the way.”
That’s what the storytelling behind this team is all about. Securing a future where girl’s and Women’s football is seen as being as important as it is.
One minute and 22 seconds of magic. What a brilliant start to this final stage of the adventure to Australia.