The first game of 2025 for the Ireland Women’s National Team will see them host Türkiye in the UEFA Nations League in Tallaght Stadium this evening.
They will hope for the same emotion from the stands as was the case for Shamrock Rovers last night, but with a different result when the full time whistle is blown.
This will be Carla Ward’s first game as Head Coach as Ireland aim to start their League B, Group 2 with a positive result ahead of travelling to Koper to take on Slovenia next Tuesday, February 25.
She is the fifth woman to coach the national team, among the 15 coaches that have held the role down the years and she comes with a strong pedigree from the Women’s Super League and working alongside Emma Hayes.
The air was let out of the team tyres with defeat to Wales and the failure to qualify for this summer’s European Championships in Switzerland.
This then is a reset with a number of familiar faces exiting the stage and more new arrivals to be brought into the mix, and brought to life for the fan base.
After the challenge of playing at the highest level in the last Nations League against three of the four best teams in Europe England, Sweden and France against whom a famous win was secured in Cork, this will be a more manageable level with Ireland ranked 25 in the world against Turkey’s 60th.
Kick off is in the ground at 19:30 with a limited number of tickets still available. There is full coverage on RTÉ2 television as well.
Northern Ireland start their campaign with an away game in Poland. We will look in greater detail at where they are ahead of their home fixture next week.
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
This is the start of the next phase of the Women’s game. We have to make sure that even though the spotlight iof competition is not as bright as in recent years, that the interest among fans of all genders and ages is maintained.
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Kick off is at 19:30 in Tallaght. Our twice daily news bulletins land Monday to Friday, 50 weeks of the year..
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