Rachel Graham

Rachel Graham (born 18 July 1989) is an Irish footballer and football coach who plays for Women's National League club Shelbourne. She won her first cap for the Republic of Ireland women's national team in March 2013. An industrious defensive midfielder who can also play as a defender, she joined Shelbourne in their previous guise as Raheny United.

Rachel Graham
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-07-18) 18 July 1989[1]
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Shelbourne
Number 8
Youth career
Trinity Sports
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2015 Raheny United
2015– Shelbourne
National team‡
2008 Republic of Ireland U-19 1 (0)
2013– Republic of Ireland 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 September 2013

Club career

Graham was born in Dublin[2] and grew up in Donaghmede.[3] She began playing street football as the only girl alongside the neighbourhood boys and joined a boy's club called Trinity Sports. After a couple of seasons she moved to Raheny United at 14 years old.[4][5]

In 2007 Graham played as Raheny reached the FAI Women's Cup final, but were beaten 1–0 by a Galway League select team at Dalymount Park.[6] Graham was still playing for Raheny United when the Women's National League (WNL) was formed in 2011 and represented the club in the competition's first season.

Over the next three seasons, Graham won two league titles and three consecutive FAI Women's Cups with "The Pandas." She also represented the club in the UEFA Women's Champions League, including in 2014–15 when they became the first Irish club to win all three matches in the group stage.[7] For the 2015–16 season, Graham remained with the club in their new guise as Shelbourne.[4]

Throughout much of her career Graham has functioned as a defensive midfielder, although she has also been deployed as a right-back[4] and as a central defender or sweeper.[8]

International career

In March 2013 Republic of Ireland women's national team coach Susan Ronan called up Graham for the 2013 Cyprus Cup, as a replacement for Julie-Ann Russell who had a quad injury.[9] Graham won her first senior cap in a 0–0 draw with South Korea, staged in Paralimni on 11 March 2013.[10]

In June 2013 Graham started but was substituted at half-time as Ireland recovered from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 in a friendly with Austria at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.[11] She continued to be named in national team squads during Ireland's unsuccessful 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign.[12] In January 2015 she featured in a 3–1 training match defeat by Norway at La Manga Stadium.[13] After the match she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her foot, which ruled her out of the 2015 Istria Cup.[3]

While enrolled at Institute of Technology, Carlow, Graham represented Ireland at the 2015 edition of the Summer Universiade in Gwangju.[14] She was recalled to the national team squad for the 2016 Cyprus Cup,[15] where she started a 1–0 defeat by Hungary[16] and appeared as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over Finland.[17]

When Susan Ronan stood down and was replaced by Colin Bell in February 2017, Graham acknowledged that she was not yet a regular pick at national team level. She was relaxed about the prospect of winning further call-ups under Bell, saying: "if it happens, it happens".[4]

Coaching career

While playing for Shelbourne, Graham began coaching the club's under 16 team and undertaking coaching qualifications. Several graduates of Graham's under 16s team went on to join her in the club first team and some emulated her by playing for Ireland at senior level.[2]

References
  1. Rachel Graham – UEFA competition record
  2. Fennessy, Paul (2 June 2018). "'I think some women find it a bit intimidating having to go on a course full of men'". The42.ie. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  3. "Rachel Graham - It's been hard looking in from the sidelines". Extratime.com. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. Malone, Emmet (16 March 2017). "Rachel Graham and Shelbourne rarin' to go again". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. Fennessy, Paul (5 November 2016). "'I started playing out on the road with my brothers... They never treated me like a girl'". The42.ie. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "Galway League 1–0 Raheny United". RTÉ. 14 October 2007. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  7. Sheehy, Clodagh (5 October 2014). "Raheny Ladies dreaming of playing mighty Barcelona". The Herald (Ireland). Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. "Player Profile: Rachel Graham of Raheny United". Her.ie. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. "Ronan adds Graham to squad for Cyprus Cup". Football Association of Ireland. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. "Women's international: Republic of Ireland 0-0 South Korea". RTÉ Sport. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. "O'Sullivan double inspires Ireland fightback". Football Association of Ireland. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  12. "Sue Ronan Adds Some New Blood". Dublin's 98FM. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  13. "Ronan happy with training game performance". Football Association of Ireland. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  14. "Match Report - Irl - Cze 1:5" (PDF). 2015 Summer Universiade. 4 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  15. "Ronan names 22 players for Cyprus Cup". Football Association of Ireland. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  16. "Ireland lose out to Hungary in Cyprus Cup". RTÉ Sport. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  17. "Ireland finish Cyprus Cup with win over Finland". Football Association of Ireland. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
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