THE Republic of Ireland’s clash against France in the Euro 2025 qualifiers can inspire the stars of the future.
That is the view of Andrew Gallagher, chair of Castletown Belles – the only all-girls football club based in Louth.
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The Girls in Green face France in their final Euro qualifier at Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh this evening.
It is the first time that the Ireland women will play in Cork since 2012, representing a homecoming for the likes of Denise O’Sullivan and Megan Connolly.
Eileen Gleeson’s side will look to capitalise on an encouraging 2-1 defeat to England at Carrow Road last week.
And according to Andrew Gallagher, playing such high profile opposition on such a grand stage can inspire future Ireland internationals to kick a ball.
He said: “To learn, you’ve got to see the big teams and big players play.
“Having the women’s game on TV is great for girls. England are arguably the best team on the planet right now.
“And when young girls see our Irish superstars holding her own against them, it’s got to inspire them to aim for the green jersey.”
Castletown Belles, based in Dundalk in Co. Louth, is one of a few all-female clubs in Ireland.
It was founded by Niall Gallagher – Andrew’s father – who served as chairman until his death from cancer in November 2023.
Andrew explained: “At the time the club was founded in 2016, the only team sport for girls in Dundalk was Gaelic football.
“If a girl wanted to play soccer, they had to go to Oriel Park to play for Dundalk or to Dublin to play with Shelbourne.
“We could see there was a big gap there for a team in the North-East and my father was adamant there was an appetite for one among the people here.”
The club started as a senior women’s team, before growing to the point of having 110 members across eight teams from U7 to U16.
The decision to branch teams into the underage grades came amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, when operations were severely disrupted.
Fast forward to 2024, and the club now boasts a leased pitch in Dundalk, dressing rooms, and boundary fencing after a successful Sports Capital Grant application.
Gallagher added: “We always said that if we were going to do it, we wanted it done right.
“We didn’t want our girls, girls from the opposing teams, or parents, worrying about basic stuff like bathrooms.
“After we secured the lease on the pitch, the very first thing we did was get a local county council grant to put in toilets.
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“Most of the time opposing teams can’t believe that we even have toilet facilities.
“All of it was [Niall’s] idea and he pushed for it all the way to the end of his life.
“A condition of the sports capital grant is that your organisation needs to self-fund 10% of the cost of the project.
“At the time, my father was on his death bed and he was calling local business people to lobby them for a bridging loan.
“Two weeks after he passed away, all the material arrive on-site for the construction.
“The field is right outside my house. His granddaughters play for the club. It’s a fantastic legacy.
“He was right about lots of things that we disagreed on.
“For example, in 2013 I had a health issue and required a kidney transplant.
“When we got our first set of jerseys, he was determined to put the Kidney Association of Ireland on the front.
“I suppose, ironically, I was against the idea because I thought we could do with the money from a sponsor, but he knew better and sure enough, we got lots of attention for it.”
WORLD BEATERS
The father-of-two is keen for the club to grow even further, and believes the Girls in Green can play a central role in that.
The 39-year-old cited the legacy of the 2023 World Cup, which saw Ireland – then-managed by Vera Pauw – compete at their first ever major tournament.
He said: “We don’t put on training or games when the matches are on because we’re conscious that a lot of girls don’t really sit down and watch the game on TV.
“We want to encourage that. Last year, for the World Cup, we built a summer camp around Ireland’s opening game against Australia and brought 70 girls into a local school hall to watch it.
“This area has produced a lot of quality female footballers.
“Megan Campbell, Ireland’s centre-half, is from up the road in Drogheda and we have her signed jersey on the wall in the dressing room.
“We want to inspire these girls and give them a love of the game so that, even if they don’t make it to the top, they can stay involved, become coaches and give back to the next generation.”