As the Ireland WNT chase a second World Cup qualification under Carla Ward, the continued lack of an U23s team has been a bone of contention in recent years.
The average age of the Irish squad has been creeping ever upwards in recent years, and just five players have debuted since the Australian summer of 2023 (h/t to John Fallon of the Irish Examiner for that stat).
Recommended
Of the 14 players who featured on the pitch last week against France and the Netherlands, only Abbie Larkin (20) and Emily Murphy (23) are under the age of 25. Nine are 30 or older.
Part of the issue for Ireland has been the lack of a place to develop upcoming talent between the U19s and senior team, with none of the five debutants since the World Cup coming from the U19s squad which qualified for the 2024 European Championships.
Several senior Ireland internationals have hinted at the need for an U23s team in recent years. In fact, previous head coach Eileen Gleeson said in the summer of 2024 that moves were underway to introduce an U23s squad, though no timeline was given.
Nearly two years later, and there is no sign of any such team being introduced by the FAI, something strongly criticised by up-and-coming Cork City star Eva Mangan this week.
READ HERE: 5 Hilariously Grim Options Spurs Could Consider As Igor Tudor Replacements
READ HERE: Former Ireland Star Says Divisive Forward Should Not Be Considered For Play-Offs
Eva Mangan calls for Ireland U23s team
28 October 2024; Abbie Larkin and Eva Mangan, right, during a Republic of Ireland women’s training session at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Cork City’s Eva Mangan spoke to Tom Maher of The Halfway Line this week, and admitted she was extremely disappointed that the FAI had yet to introduce an U23s women’s team.
Mangan was called up in the penultimate window of Eileen Gleeson’s reign, named on the bench for both legs of the Euro 2025 playoff against Georgia without earning her first cap. Her route to the national team, like many of her generation, has been stunted by the absence of any development squad past U19 age level.
Two years on from Gleeson’s proclamation that an U23 team was inbound, little is known about what, if any, progress has been made towards its introduction.
“Obviously, it’s really disappointing that there’s not a 23s,” Mangan said to The Halfway Line this week.
It kind of has been in talks for a good while but I don’t think there’s been any developments really on it, but last year, they started a development team to bridge the gap between the nineteens and the senior [teams] because sure, as we all know, it’s too big.
And I seen something out the other day on how many players have been capped since the World Cup, and it’s very few.
Mangan noted that, of those five players who had debuted or been called up to the squad since the 2023 World Cup, few had come from the U19s squad.
The Cork star laid down the gauntlet to the FAI, saying that the introduction of an U23s squad was imperative if they were “serious” about wanting women’s football to develop in Ireland.
I think it has to be brought in, if the FAI are serious about really developing women’s football in Ireland and wanting Ireland to be in the front stage at Euros, at World Cups.
Strong words indeed, and ones that will likely be echoed by many associated with Irish women’s football.
You can read Eva Mangan’s full interview with The Halfway Line here.
SEE ALSO: Evan Ferguson Shares Long-Awaited Update After Surgery Reports
