The work ethic of a special group staff and players is widely heralded and lauded as a key component of their success. However, there is another body or work goes on behind the scenes to make days like Saturday possible.
Galway United Chairman Jonathan Corbett reflected with pride on the on-field successes of a group bidding to make more history. If the speed of the success last season surprised some, repeating the feat has not.
On making a second final in a row, Corbett said: “No surprise this year. At the start of the season, they were the best team I thought. The last few weeks, a few games have gone against them a small bit but not surprised that they’re back in the final. They’ve been absolutely brilliant”.
“You can see that some of the new players that Phil has brought into the squad have made a difference. Great to be here”.
“It’s the first time in the history of Galway United that we have been in two finals two years in a row. It shows we are not going back; we are going forward”.
“Because of what we did last year, we are trying to build. We have kept to the same levels in training, matchdays, travel, food and physio. We know what we did last year, it worked and now we are pushing on”.
Yet, speaking under the stand after the league game with Shamrock Rovers last Saturday, a game that only 225 attended, it was put to him that there are obvious and significant challenges to be met to keep the show on the road.
“Finance wise, the women’s game will not finance itself for a long time yet. We went for the highest attendance this year, that worked really well. I was at the Shelbourne match in Tolka Park, they had a core for 600-700. That should be our target.”
“I’ll throw it out to the public, to the people that say we are not backing the women’s game, Galway WFC backed it and we are backing it, it needs the backing of people coming to matches. If you are a mother or a father, and you have a young girl in any type of sport you should be bringing them to the elite level and showing them what level they need to get to”.
Where every girl will want to get to is to the level of local hero Julie-Ann Russell. Her star turn in green recently gave Galway United supporters unprecedented pride. Corbett is already eyeing the legacy from that special week.
“Julie-Ann is just top class. If anything, the other players looking up to her is nearly as important as anything else. We had three players who contacted us after that and wanted to come to us because they realised that by playing with Galway United, you had a chance of playing with Ireland”.
“I think it is an absolute disgrace that in the history of Galway United Women’s team has an Irish manager not been in Eamonn Deacy Park.”
“We hope to have four of five buses going up [to Tallaght on Saturday]. We have two sold out. You have a good core of people living and working up in Dublin who always come out and support. Brian and Luke Comer are also coming to the match which is great.”
Supporters, officials, staff and sponsors are all uniting behind this team and will make their presence felt in Tallaght.
