Carla Ward<\/a> yourself.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s because Ward was due in Tallaght later that day to confirm her squad.<\/p>\n
A family emergency meant that the former Aston Villa boss would lean on her assistant Alan Mahon to deliver the news, which he did soon after the Athlone and Bohs contingent cleared out.<\/p>\n
Brady\u2019s name wasn\u2019t one of the 24, but she, and Shamrock Rovers defender Maria Reynolds were both named on standby, and were invited to train with the squad next week.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a step in the right direction for a player with a thick American accent, but with as strong a connection to these shores as any member of the diaspora.<\/p>\n
There is no doubting Brady\u2019s Irish-ness. She grew up playing Gaelic football with Rockland GAA Club in New York, although she hasn\u2019t taken it back up since her move to the midlands.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot since I came over and played in the Feile when I was 14,\u201d she told Off The Ball this week.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI would love to play but I\u2019ll have to have a chat with some people about that!\u201d<\/p>\n
This coming week will offer Brady an opportunity to impress the Ireland manager – both in Sunday’s Cup final and in the days after that at Abbotstown, ahead of Friday\u2019s first-leg in the Aviva Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always hoping for that,\u201d she said, when asked about the prospect of a call-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarla Ward, hopefully I\u2019ve been under her radar being top scorer and she\u2019s watching more talent in the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just always hopeful of getting the call and I\u2019m hoping when I do get it I\u2019ll be ready and good to go, and hopefully I can impress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward has taken a keen interest in the league here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she was just checking Athlone,\u201d she said of a recent visit by Ward to the Women\u2019s League of Ireland champions. \u201cShe is always keeping her eyes on the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady has made a huge impact since her arrival in the League of Ireland.<\/p>\n
She explained how the move came about, saying: \u201cI was playing in college, I was at the University of Mississippi. The season ended and I knew I wanted to go into a professional setting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy agent had connections in Ireland and he mentioned Athlone. I did my research and saw they\u2019d had great years previously, so felt it was something I wanted to be part of.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving family and friends in Ireland made the move easier. I came over last November to check it out and it felt homely. This was somewhere I wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is no stranger to these shores.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been to both parts [Castleblaney and Kinvara] and all around the country before, playing soccer and GAA, and all that good stuff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no problems settling in. Also having a good few Americans on the team helped. It\u2019s never boring.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the girls have been so welcoming. The coaching staff, everyone in the town has been so amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club has been providing for us such great things, accommodation, all that stuff, right in town. I couldn\u2019t have asked for anything better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady got to play in Athlone Town\u2019s historic European run, which saw them beat Cardiff City (4-0) and Croatian side Agram (3-0) in the Champions League, before a defeat to Icelandic side Breidablik (1-3) ended their chances of progressing further.<\/p>\n
They did pick up one more win, though, against Red Star Belgrade (2-0), before dropping into the Europa Cup, where Glasgow City beat them 3-0 at home and away.<\/p>\n
Addressing her adjustment to the senior game, after her college career in the US, she said: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a different style in a lot of different aspects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very competitive league here. It\u2019s also very competitive in America, just very different styles. But I think I was able to adjust well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that mix of Americans and native Irish girls, we mix so well together, bounce off each other and learn a lot from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to Sunday’s final, Athlone Town are favourites to win – and to put right last year\u2019s disastrous 6-1 defeat at the hands of Shelbourne.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard about it,\u201d Brady said about the 2024 decider. \u201cI wasn\u2019t here. A couple of girls mentioned it but it\u2019s just background noise now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve another chance of winning the FAI Cup. Let\u2019s put last year aside and prove everybody wrong by getting the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is also the small matter of firing Athlone Town to their first ever league and cup double.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it the first ever? Wow,\u201d said Brady. \u201cWe just have to dig deep now. We have one more game left after having such a great year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be nice looking back to see how much history we made for the league and club.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we want more. We are always super hungry. One more game left and hopefully we can lift that trophy. It will be a tough one though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kelly Brady is in FAI Cup final action today for Athlone Town against Bohemians.Athlone Town’s Kelly Brady(Image: INPHO\/Laszlo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[57419,14645,18999,43174,61,60,2539,43,57217,57420],"class_list":["post-90483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-athlone-town-fc","tag-bohemian-fc","tag-carla-ward","tag-fai-cup","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-league-of-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-national-football-team","tag-republic-of-ireland-womens-football-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_inpho_02808921.jpg\")
Athlone Town’s Kelly Brady(Image: INPHO\/Laszlo Geczo)<\/p>\n