FAI’s development of women’s game still some way short of the rhetoric

For Sweden, the winner takes it all. Such is the uber-confidence of these Olympic silver medallists that the small print on their new Adidas jersey provides details on how to beat them.

Self-branded as “one of the world’s most open and transparent countries” the Swedes appear to have plonked themselves beside the New Zealand All Blacks’ tone deaf approach to International Women’s Day.

The marketing campaign, while risky, looks light years beyond the FAI's promised direction for the women's game. Nor should it slow Peter Gerhardsson's side from securing automatic qualification for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with victory over the Republic of Ireland next Tuesday at the Gamla Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg.

This brief international window encourages a check-up on what is happening with women’s football, both at home and aboard, where 23 of the current 29-strong squad are located.

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Last Saturday the FAI women's coaching conference took place in Galway. Due to the annual gathering clashing with national league fixtures, thereby denying current and future coaches at top female clubs from attending, the association are repeating the event in the off season to specifically work with these coaches.

Liz Joyce and Catherine Guy, the FAI board's non-executive female members, were present to emphasise their expertise in governance but both admitted to having little knowledge about football.

Joyce and Guy were co-opted onto the board following impressive careers in human resources and law, but this led to a question from the floor about who is advocating for female soccer interests within the FAI’s newly constructed governance and committee structure?

The FAI have confirmed that Sally Horrox, another non-elected female brought into the Irish football fold, will remain as chairperson of the "women's football strategic committee," initially formed in July 2021, despite her recent appointment as World Rugby's new director of women's rugby.

The women’s committee has never met, with its members, including the players’ representative, yet to be finalised.

What is curious about the Horrox appointment is that she and former Fianna Fáil minister Dermot Ahern are the only two chairpersons of the FAI’s 10 new committees that are not part of the board. Ahern chairs the National League committee, which covers both the women’s and men’s competitions.

Core pillar number four, of six announced by the FAI strategy up to 2025, intends to “develop the full potential of football for women and girls”, yet nobody with a direct link to the women’s game in Ireland appears to have a say in the decision-making process. There is also the fact that all the Republic of Ireland underage female squads have male head coaches.

Professional standards

“The FAI is putting a huge emphasis on the development of the women’s game with playing numbers to be increased by 50,000,” read the FAI’s recent strategic document.

“They even intend to have 300 Uefa licenced female coaches come 2025. The strategy also aims to have 40 per cent female representation across the board, general assembly and committees by the end of 2023.”

There are 230 female coaches with a Uefa licence in Ireland with another 100 women due to complete their coaching qualifications in 2022. Only two female coaches have completed the Uefa Pro licence via the FAI.

All the Republic of Ireland underage female squads have male head coaches.

Currently, female representation on the FAI board is at 16.6 per cent.

Across the water, Glasgow-born Irish international Ruesha Littlejohn believes that her generation will be the last to need part-time jobs to play the game “professionally”. The 31-year-old’s switch from Birmingham City to Aston Villa this season exposed her to “basic” professional standards.

“I said before about last season at Birmingham, maybe the treatment and care of the women’s team wasn’t there,” said Littlejohn.

“It’s slowly getting better, obviously there is some way to go but right now, I think we’re a bit more ahead of Birmingham in that respect. So it’s easier to go and work and do your job when you’ve got the support of the club.”

By “better” she means not being put off training pitches or blocked from gym sessions by male teams affiliated to the same club.

“The kids that are coming through now they’re actually spoilt compared to what we had,” Littlejohn continued.

“But we need that, we need that equality, that respect, that’s the way it is now, they’re quite lucky that they don’t have to deal with what we had to deal with.”

It helps that reverberating voices, like Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, are beginning to force improved standards at giant male-orientated clubs.

“When I was [at Liverpool in 2012], you might have had one game a month and you got paid for that game. So it was £250 quid a game, and that was it. I was still working at the time and that was meant to be us in a professional league. But it’s come a long way, everyone in the WSL is professional, some of the Championship clubs are professional.”