THE MIGHTY QUINN
‘I had an incredible time. I really, really love the club. I love what the club represents. I played with some brilliant players’.
Louise Quinn talks about the end of her time with Arsenal
THIS wasn’t supposed to be how Louise Quinn’s career with Arsenal was meant to end.
On February 29, the Gunners were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in the League Cup final at the City Ground, in Nottingham. Little would the Blessington native know that that game would be her last in the classic red and white colours of the North London club.
Shortly after the final, in March, the Covid-19 coronavirus increasing foothold on the UK led to the temporary suspension of the Women’s Super League, as well as all other sport across the British Isles.
While the men’s Premier League was given clearance to resume training in June ahead of the return of matches from June 17, no such allowance was afforded to the top tier of women’s football.
On May 25, both the WSL and Championship campaigns were announced as being cancelled by the Football Association.
It represented more than just a premature end to the leagues themselves, but also a premature end for Louise’s time with the team at which she had spent the last three years.
‘I think that was probably one of the hardest things to take, that I wasn’t able to finish off a season and say goodbye to everyone, all the girls, all the staff. It’s not ideal but it is something that was completely out of my control. There was nothing that I could do about it. It was out of the club’s control,’ says the 29-year-old, who recently returned home to family in Blessington.
‘I had an incredible time. I really, really love the club. I love what the club represents. I played with some brilliant players and have made great friends with people who I will be able to keep in touch with for a long time. I have learnt a lot about myself. I think I have come along a lot as a player and showed that I can adapt to different situations and scenarios. It has been massively positive. It is a massive shame that it has come to an end but that’s just the way.’
In truth, Quinn will be the first to admit that her last season with Arsenal wasn’t the easiest one for her. Her matchday minutes were more limited than they were the year before. While she made 27 appearances in domestic competitions in the 2018/19 season which ended with Arsenal winning their first league title since 2012, she togged out 14 times in 2019/20 across the WSL, FA Cup, and Continental Tyres Cup, six of those 14 came in the league. It Is this loss of game-time that meant that Quinn – who represented Arsenal 76 times since 2017 – knew it was time for a fresh start, made possible by her contract expiring on June 5.
While her last year with the three-times champions was more difficult than her previous two, she still reflects well on that time.
The daughter of a Gaelic footballer, Louise started her prodigious soccer career with Blessington Boys. Her youth career continued with Lakeside FC, before she moved onto play for two-time Women’s National League champions Peamount United in 2004. As part of the Dublin club, Louise captained the team to the FAI Cup final in 2008, the same year that she earned the first of her 75 international caps. Peamount lifted that particular trophy two years later but, in an ironic twist of fate, Louise missed the occasion as a result of being in America at the time of the final.
She spent a short time with UCD on loan before betting on her potential by making the move to Eskilstuna United in Sweden. She played for them for three years between 2013 and 2016. In 2017, she made the jump to North London for one of the most prestigious clubs in England. The differences between playing in Sweden and England were made clear from day one in the English capital.
‘I had to adapt massively. It depends on the team you play with when you are playing in the Swedish league, but we were very kind of defensive minded at times. That was the priority, whereas at Arsenal, that wasn’t a number one priority. The priority was having the ball and attacking, basically. Everywhere I went, it was something to adapt to.
‘I knew that if I work my hardest and put my head down and listen and learned, I could adapt and change situations that maybe I couldn’t have done before. I just kind of learnt a lot about myself as a player and as a person, that things are not going to come easily for me and I have to work hard for them. That was what I tried to do.’
After a brief stop at Notts County Ladies, who folded just two days before the start of that year’s Spring Series, Louise was snapped up by Arsenal, and made her debut as a substitute in a 0-0 draw against Sunderland on the opening game of that competition on May 2. Her first start would come shortly thereafter against Liverpool in a 4-4 draw on May 4. As well as a Continental Tyres Cup win, that same season contained the game that Quinn credits as being one of the most enjoyable and cathartic of her career.
On April 15, 2018, Arsenal were facing Everton in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. In the other game, Chelsea had beaten Manchester City to make it to the Wembley decider.
Arsenal were vying for their 15th cup and their first since 2016 when they, ironically, bested Chelsea in the final. Before they could even think about that, however, there was the final-four encounter against the Merseysiders to worry about.
With 90 minutes on the clock, the sides were deadlocked at 1-1 after Everton’s Chloe Kelly had cancelled out Danielle Carter’s opener. Scottish midfielder Kim Little swept an in-swinging corner into the penalty area from the left-hand side, where it was met by Quinn, who headed the ball into the back of the net to win the day. While Arsenal would go on to lose the subsequent final to Chelsea in front of a record 45,000 people, that semi-final sticks out in Louise’s head as one of many career highlights.
‘I just remember enjoying the game so much. It was kind of a perfect defender’s game for me: some last-ditch tackles, slide tackles. It was a bit wet that day. It was a really competitive game.
‘To top it off by scoring the winning goal from a set piece, it was just one of those overall performances where sometimes you don’t know where it came out of. You are thinking of what you did that day or the night before to make it one of those great performances. Obviously, that was a massive highlight to be able to get us to the FA Cup final, as well.’
That cup semi-final may be the game, about which she remembers most fondly, but a year later was when she reached the pinnacle of her Arsenal career, when the Londoners won their first league Women’s Super League title since 2012. In a lot of ways, it was won at a relative canter. With six games to go, Arsenal were well placed in second-place on the table; Quinn and co. were five points behind leaders Manchester City with three games in-hand. They made use of that numerical advantage by romping home to win the title by seven points
‘That was just - you know - one of the best things in my career to-date, and the manner that we went about it. It was fully deserved on our part and I think we won the league with real conviction. That was definitely the biggest highlight.’
Since the news broke that Louise would be leaving Arsenal, there has been an outpouring of well-wishes from fans and teammates alike. It is an indication of the status that she held within the club and a tribute to the success that she achieved as part of the her famed, title-winning partnership with Leah Williamson. Three years, 76 appearances, and four goals after first taking the pitch in that drab draw against the Black Cats, her position as a cult-hero at the Gunners is well and truly assured.
‘I was completely overwhelmed by that kind of reaction. Obviously, it is nice to see that people did appreciate my time with the club and, hopefully, I influenced them a little bit and caught them on as an Arsenal fan. I was really touched by it.
‘I didn’t expect that reaction at all, to be honest. It shows that we had some great fans and the people have been looking out for me in that way. It was really nice to see. Arsenal fans and my own friends are colleagues are like that, anyway. There are some really good people around.’
Her London adventure may be at an end, but the women’s game is her oyster. Clubs in England, America, and beyond are sure to be on the phone to secure her services in time for the 2020/21 season, with the WSL due to kick-off once again in September, assuming all goes well in the meantime. Until then, Louise will be able to look back on her three seasons with the Gunners with great pride and accomplishment.
As the ol’ folktale goes: ‘You ain’t seen nothin’ like the Mighty Quinn.’