With flights back home looming, Ireland fans were determined to celebrate Ireland’s first Women’s World Cup campaign, and first point, in style on Monday.
A 0-0 draw with Nigeria in their last game didn’t quite deliver the high they were hoping to end on, but regardless, they were going to celebrate as if Ireland had won the entire tournament.
Like the previous game against Canada in Perth, the army of green at Brisbane Stadium felt like a home crowd, with the vast majority of the 24,884 in attendance holding Irish flags and singing The Fields of Athenry.
Ireland fans based in Australia were making Ireland’s last night count too. Two Australia-based Ireland fans said they had called in sick before the game, expecting celebrations to go on all night.
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Irish voices boomed during key moments in the game, especially for Courtney Brosnan after a miraculous save early in the second half, which earned her the Visa player of the match award.
Cormac and Sandy Molloy, from Tipperary, and their children Harry and Maddy said it was “devastating” not to have gone out of the tournament with a win, but the Brisbane-based family were full of praise for Brosnan, who kept Nigeria from scoring in the second half.
“We’re very proud of the girls, they’re amazing, they’ve put football on the map for little girls like Maddy. We’re excited for what they do next and this won’t be our last World Cup for sure,” Mr Molloy said.
“Fans turned out in their thousands tonight, we’re the best fans in the world and we’ll be behind the girls, win or lose,” he said.
Despite the result and the cost of coming out to Australia, Jeannette Hynes and Sally Flaherty from Oranmore, Co Galway, said they had no regrets following the team to Sydney and then to Perth and Brisbane.
They had gone to every World Cup that the men’s team had qualified for, so it was a no-brainer when the women qualified that they would make the journey out to Australia.
“You couldn’t have asked for anything else from them,” Hynes said.
“It was brilliant, we couldn’t have asked for more and they gave it every single bit they could. We’re so happy, and so happy for Courtney.”
Sharing freshly composed chants for all the players over pints in an Irish pub before the game, Louise Ryan from Tipperary said despite the huge financial cost being part of Ireland’s first Women’s World Cup was “magic”.
“It’s history. So, we just said f*** it, come hell or high water we were getting over here to see the team.”
Had the result from the Australia and Canada games been different, Ryan said they would have followed them to the bitter end.
“We would have remortgaged the house to fly to bloody New Zealand had it gone differently,” she said.
One of the major highlights for Ryan was Katie McCabe’s corner against Canada and seeing Áine O’Gorman and Louise Quinn “bossing it” on the pitch.
“After the Canada game, it was like we’d won the World Cup,” Ryan said.
The team’s legacy can’t be underestimated either says Ryan, who is a PE teacher.
“For young girls now in Ireland, they can see pathways into professional sport, something they can actually make a living out of, and have a profile and have people watching and not seeing women’s sport, just seeing sport.”
Ireland player Rianna Jarrett had come out to Australia to support the squad. The impact the team has had on the sport and on future generations will be immense, she said.
“What we showed on the pitch is a sign of what’s to come. It’s not the be all and end all. It’s not going to be Ireland’s last major tournament, but it’s great that it has been the first and I think there’s so much to build on.”
Jarrett hopes that the excitement following the team in Australia can translate to a high turnout for their next match at the Aviva Stadium in September.
“It’s only the start, we’ve seen it with England winning the Euros and hopefully we had a similar effect with Ireland playing their first major tournament,” Jarrett said.
At another pub before the match, Katie McCabe’s brother Shane was also quick to point out the lasting effects of his sister’s team’s performance.
McCabe, who lives in Australia, said he has loved every bit of the tournament. His personal highlight that was Katie’s corner goal against Canada. Many would agree.
“She’s been putting in phenomenal work and you can see her work ethic on the pitch is phenomenal. I think she earned that goal.”
“For Katie, it was very hard growing up because there was no platform there for girls playing football.”
“Even five years ago, there wasn’t much light on women’s football. I think for young girls coming up now, they’re watching them on the telly, and it’s motivating them. They see that they can accomplish these things too.”
Meanwhile, in Melbourne, co-hosts Australia beat Canada 4-0, sending them through to the knockout phase with Nigeria.