I’m thrilled there is a pathway to turning pro for young girls now
ALL Jamie Finn dreamt of when she was younger was being a professional footballer. From the moment she started playing on boys’ teams in Swords, all she wanted to do was play the game for a living. However, back then, the pathway wasn’t entirely clear for eight-yearold Irish girls.
‘Right now, I am living my dream,’ Finn said about her first season as a full-time pro in Castleknock Hotel earlier this week. Of course, those childhood dreams of a football career rarely include relegation scraps, but that is where Finn and the Irish contingent at Birmingham City find themselves right now.
Despite their predicament, they may feel that results haven’t necessarily reflected the quality of their performances.
The 23-year-old has been one of Birmingham’s better players in a difficult season, with the team able to lean on her versatility just as Ireland boss Vera Pauw has done in the past. Although she has spent most of it at right wing-back, she has been switched to the left flank, even getting into the WSL team of the week on that wing. And she has also played in her more natural home of central midfield.
‘I will play anywhere that the manager puts me. As long as I am on the pitch, I don’t care,’ said Finn with a smile. ‘I’ve really enjoyed the right wing-back role this season, because you are supporting the attack and have defensive duties as well.
‘I obviously like playing in the centre as well but, as I said, as long as I am playing, I don’t care where it is.’
With Savannah McCarthy’s injury misfortune, there is even a sense that Finn could slot into the left side of the defensive three against Sweden for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier, if needed. Having someone who can play almost anywhere is what any manager wants.
And since she was young, all Finn wanted to do was be on a pitch playing ball. And she did that with boys until she was 12 or 13, before moving to Shelbourne. Pauw is adamant that girls should be playing with boys until that age, as it helps them develop and Finn believes she is proof of that theory.
‘Absolutely, I think girls should be playing with boys until they can’t, basically. For me, that was when I was 12. They are quicker and stronger, so you have to think quicker on the ball and obviously that is going to be good for the development of your game.’
The boys she played alongside at Swords Manor had a defined map to follow their dreams of playing football. It wasn’t so clear for Finn or other girls her age. But, as she got older, it became easier to discern a route.
‘At the time, you wouldn’t have seen as many girls going over to England. But you see that more and more. It is much more visible and for the girls who are eight or nine now, you can see the pathway if you do decide to follow your dream.’
Not that it has been easy for Finn. Signing for Birmingham didn’t just mean getting used to full-time football (she had worked in a gym while at Shels), it also meant moving away from home for the first time.
The number of familiar Irish faces at the club, like veteran defender Louise Quinn, helped.
‘I had to adapt to a lot of things, being away from home for a start. Training-wise, it was tough. You are training almost every day. Gym sessions, tactics, analysing your own performance, working with video footage. We would have done that at Shelbourne but it wouldn’t be as full-on because it wasn’t fulltime. But this was a jump I wanted to make.
‘I grew up loving football and loving playing it. It is not a job for me, I go out and play football and
that is the dream. It’s not work, it is what I love to do. It is as if someone said to me here is what you love to do and now you are going to get paid for it.’
And her advice for young girls looking to follow her path – moving from the Women’s National League to England’s WSL – is to be patient. ‘It is not going to happen overnight. It is a development over time. For me, I would tell anyone don’t be afraid to reach out and ask opinions, ask for advice, other players, me even. How did you do it? How did you find it? What did you do? I had loads of questions that I asked the girls here.’
The momentum generated by this improving Irish side, and the interest in the players, is mirrored in an explosion in the women’s game in general, most clearly seen in more than 90,000 paying into the Nou Camp to watch Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Champions League. It will be evident again on Tuesday as Sweden are expecting a record crowd in Gothenburg for the qualifier against Ireland, as the home side can confirm World Cup qualification with a win.
Considering Finn wasn’t sure of a pathway to becoming a professional when she was younger, she knows the game has come a long way in a short space of time, but reckons it will grow further.
‘There are no limits for the game. The Barcelona game was amazing to watch and to see everyone come together for the women’s game, it shows the growth of and it can only go up further. Everyone can see that the talent is there and it will keep growing.’
It is not a job for me. I go out and play football – that’s the dream