Aoibheann Clancy (born 31 October 2003) is an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Wexford Youths of the Women's National League (WNL) and the Republic of Ireland women's national team.

Club career

Clancy is from Kilbehenny in

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

. At youth level she played

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

for Galtee Gaels, and Camogie for St. Fanahan's. In youth soccer she was active in the Tipperary Schoolboys/girls Southern & District League (TSSDL) for both Kilburn Celtic and Tipperary Town, before she joined the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

of local Women's National League club Limerick WFC.

Wexford Youths

Ahead of the delayed 2020 Women's National League season, Clancy joined Wexford Youths. In September 2020 she made her first start for her new club as Wexford inflicted a first defeat of the season on champions

Peamount United Peamount United Football Club () is an Irish association football club based in Newcastle, South Dublin. The club is best known for its senior women's team who in 2011–12 became founder members and inaugural champions of the Women's National ...

. Impressed Wexford coach Tom Elmes declared Clancy "one of the stand-out performances". Clancy's strong form continued into the 2021 Women's National League season. She was "instrumental" in the 2021 FAI Women's Cup Final, as Wexford Youths defeated Shelbourne 3–1. At the 2021 WNL Awards she was named in the Team of the Season and beat fellow nominees

Ellen Molloy Ellen Molloy (born 5 June 2004) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Wexford Youths of the Women's National League (WNL) and the Republic of Ireland women's national team. Club career In a decorated career in youth soccer, Mol ...

and Jessie Stapleton to the Young Player of the Year.

International career

Youth

Clancy represented Ireland at schoolgirl level while she attended Presentation School, Thurles. She was named Player of the Match as Ireland beat England in the final of the 2017 John Read Cup. She was also vice- captain in the team which retained the trophy the following year. She progressed to the Republic of Ireland women's national under-17 football team, and by 2021 was playing for Dave Connell's

Republic of Ireland women's national under-19 football team The Republic of Ireland women's national under-19 football team represents Ireland at the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. History UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The Irish team has qualified for the U ...

. She made a single appearance during the calendar year.

Senior

Clancy's first senior call-up was for a friendly game against Australia on 21 September 2021 at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now o ...

. The national team coach

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch football coach and former player. She currently manages the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. She has managed several national women's football teams, including Scotland, Netherland ...

had been impressed by her good form with her club and in home-based training sessions. Clancy won her first senior

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 14 November 2022, as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Denise O'Sullivan Denise O'Sullivan (born 4 February 1994) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the American club North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Republic of Ireland national team which s ...

in a 4–0 friendly win over

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

staged in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

, Spain.

Playing style

Clancy is a versatile

box-to-box midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, whose "quick feet and awareness allow her to operate superbly between the lines".

Personal life

In 2022 Clancy began studying biomedical sciences at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clancy, Aoibheann 2003 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Women's association football midfielders Wexford Youths W.F.C. players Association footballers from County Limerick Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Limerick W.F.C. players People associated with University College Dublin Galtee Gaels Gaelic footballers