This morning Eileen Gleeson announced her first squad since she became the permanent manager of the WNT back in November, leaving a few people no doubt scratching their heads and wondering, who is Emily Murphy?
Unlike some of the other returning faces to the squad such as Niamh Fahey, Aoife Mannion, Jess Ziu and Leanne Kiernan (all of whom had suffered injuries), Murphy isn’t a name a lot of Girls In Green fans would have been familiar with, up until now that is.
Interestingly though, she did in fact feature in an Irish WNT camp before.
Back in April 2021 she was invited in, while the team were under Vera Pauw, to train with the squad prior to their home friendly versus Denmark, and their away fixture against Belgium.
There she joined Lily Agg and Florence Gamby in doing so, although none of the three made the trip to take on the Red Devils in Brussels.
Out of the trio, Agg was the only one to cement herself into the longterm plans of the then manager, but having been called up once again, there’s no doubt Murphy will look to seize this opportunity.
Hailing from Windsor, England, she qualifies for the Irish set up through her father Jonathan who’s from Rathfarnham in Dublin.
She currently plays for Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, while studying a Major Degree in Political Science, Minor Degree in Contemporary Global Studies in Wake Forest University.
Club wise Murphy began with the Arsenal Academy and then moved to Chelsea 's Academy, progressed to their senior set up there, then went to Birmingham City on loan, followed by the North Carolina Tar Heels before making her way to the Deacons.
Internationally, the 20 year old has previously played for the England U17s, even taking to the pitch for them during their 2020 U17 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification games against Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Belgium.
☘️Eileen Gleeson’s 1st squad announcement as the permanent Ireland WNT manager is quite interesting to say the least!
Fahey returns for the first time since the World Cup, while Mannion, Ziu and Kiernan are all back from injury.
Also the new addition of Emily Murphy.
Thoughts? https://t.co/ojQ36DwFJq— Alanna Cunnane (@acunnane10) February 15, 2024
Who is Emily Murphy , how will she slot into this Irish WNT camp?
With no caps just yet, Murphy will aspire to make her debut for Ireland during this window as they take on both Italy and Wales in their first games of 2024.
Chloe Mustaki, Tara O'Hanlon and Sinead Farrelly all miss out via injury, but the players who were selected by Gleeson will all meet in Florence on Monday, February 19th in preparation for their game the subsequent Friday.
That match will take place at Viola Park, marking the first international game to be played there since it opened last year, but for those who aren't making the journey, the game will be available to view back at home on RTÉ NewsNow, with kick off at 5:15pm Irish time.
The squad will then travel back to Dublin and prepare for the Wales in Tallaght stadium on Tuesday February 27th at 7:30pm, their first home match of the season.
With the North Stand now finally complete, the venue can now hold up to 10,300 people, and for those who can’t make it, the match will also be broadcast live on RTÉ2.
Gleeson's first as permanent manager, she'll be hoping to make an instant impact and kick off 2024 how she closed out 2023, with a bang.
For the FULL squad announcement, see here.
𝙒𝙉𝙏 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙
Head Coach Eileen Gleeson will be supported by Assistant Coaches Colin Healy, Emma Byrne and new addition Rhys Carr, plus Performance Coach Ivi Casegrande 👊
The full support staff will begin prep for the UEFA Women’s European… pic.twitter.com/Of4X2nK8UP— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) February 12, 2024
