Aoife Mannion on representing Ireland, missing out on Euro 2025 and Carla Ward’s arrival

Upfront - A Women's Football Podcast

Stak Production

Soccer, Womens World Cup, Girls Football, Lionesses, Womens Sports, Female Sports, Chloe Kelly, Womens England Football, Leah Williamson, Womens Soccer, Nwsl, Keira Walsh, Womens Football, England Womens, Sports

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

International football is back tomorrow! Which means we’ve roped in Republic of Ireland defender Aoife Mannion to tell us all about her Ireland journey after debuting for the Girls in Green two years ago this month.

Aoife opens up about overcoming setbacks throughout her career - after suffering two ACL injuries - and reveals what it’s like to play with an underdog mentality in the Ireland squad.

Elsewhere, Aoife shares how deflating it was to fall short of Euro 2025 and lose Eileen Gleeson and Colin Healy soon after. Plus, she explains what new challenges are ahead with the exciting arrival of Carla Ward. Come join us!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Upfront. I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. Ahead of their Nations League campaign which kicks off tomorrow,
0:08.7	I'm delighted to be joined by none other than Republic of Ireland defender, Ifa Mannion.
0:13.2	Eva has played for some of the biggest clubs in England, including Aston Villa, Birmingham City,
0:17.8	Manchester City, and of course, Manchester United. After making the switch to represent Ireland in 2023,
0:23.8	EFA has become a huge part of the squad.
0:26.3	And with Carla Ward's recent appointment as head coach,
0:28.8	there's an exciting new chapter ahead for the team.
0:31.2	We're about to dive into EFA's international journey,
0:33.8	what we can expect under Carla,
0:35.4	and the new targets ahead of missing out on Euro
0:37.5	2025. I'm still not over it.
0:44.3	Welcome to the pod, Ifa. Thank you so much for joining us and finding time in your busy
0:48.6	training and to have a chat. You made your Republic of Ireland debut two years ago this month. Can you sum up what the last
0:57.0	two years in this squad has been like for you? Well, I can't believe it's been two years already.
1:01.9	It's felt like an absolute whirlwind, really, in some ways two years ago, feels so long ago,
1:07.7	but then in other ways it feels like only yesterday. With injuries and bits and
1:12.1	babs, I've not always been in over that time. And so still when I come in, I get that novelty
1:19.0	feeling of getting to sort of see the girls again. And I'm just always so pleased to be involved.
1:25.8	And so, yeah, hopefully long may it continue.
1:29.1	Absolutely.
1:29.9	What are the main differences for a player between playing for your country versus
1:35.4	club football?
	...

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