Stephanie Roche, Footballer

When Stephanie was younger, her Dad and two brothers were very involved in football - both as coaches and players. She always went to their matches, playing in the goals before the games and at half-time. Stephanie has represented Ireland in football since she first made the national Under-17 team, aged 14. She is now in the national team, having also played for Sunderland Ladies.

Women’s association football, or women’s soccer, is the most prominent team’s sport played by women around the globe, with 176 countries participating internationally. The first recorded women’s matches took place in the UK in the 1890s, and women’s football became very popular there during World War I. Unfortunately in 1921 the Football Association (FA) outlawed the playing of the women’s game on FA pitches, claiming it was distasteful. It took 50 years for the ban to be lifted. Women’s professional football got underway globally in the 1970s and ‘80s, with Italy becoming the first country with (part-time) professional women footballers and Japan the first to launch a semi-professional women’s football league in 1989.

Women’s Football Association of Ireland was established in 1973 and made their competitive debut in 1984. S In 2013 Stephanie scored a goal for Peamount United that was runner-up for the FIFA best goal of the year.

Photo: Beta Bajgart