Ellen Molloy (born 5 June 2004) is an Irish

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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

In a decorated career in youth soccer, Molloy enjoyed success with Thomastown United and

Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny The Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny is an all girls secondary school catering for students between the ages of 12-19 around the Kilkenny city, and the surrounding areas. The school has a Catholic ethos and falls under the Trusteeship of C ...

. She was already seen as an exceptional prospect when she transferred to reigning WNL champions Wexford Youths in July 2019. Molloy debuted for Wexford Youths on the first day of the delayed 2020 Women's National League season, scoring two goals and serving one assist in a 4–1 home win over

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. She won the WNL Player of the Month award for August 2020 and was praised by Wexford Youths coach Tom Elmes: "She has hit the ground running. She is versatile and can play in a number of different roles and she's done really well for us." In September 2020 Molloy scored twice as Wexford inflicted a first defeat of the season on champions

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. She scored another two goals, including a "goal of the season contender" against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

on 31 October 2020. At the WNL Awards in December 2020, Molloy was named Young Player of the Season and named in the Team of the Season. Molloy's impressive form continued into the 2021 Women's National League season. She scored four times in a 7–1 win over

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, then hit a "brilliant, long range" goal in a 5–0 win over Galway two weeks later. She was named Player of the Match in the 2021 FAI Women's Cup Final, as Wexford Youths defeated Shelbourne 3–1. She retained her place in the Team of the Season at the 2021 WNL Awards. Having scored 13 goals from midfield she agreed to remain with Wexford Youths for the following season. In

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Molloy had scored 16 goals and was the league's second top goal scorer as Wexford Youths challenged for the title. She suffered an

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in a September 2022 fixture against Treaty United and missed the run-in.

International career

Youth

Molloy scored an acclaimed goal for the

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against

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in February 2020 which went

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and brought her to wider attention. The strike was later voted International Goal of the Year at the

FAI International Football Awards The FAI International Football Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best Republic of Ireland international footballers of the year. Senior International awards Senior International Player of the Year Senior Women's International P ...

, making Molloy the first female winner. In September 2021 Molloy debuted for the

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, scoring in her team's 2–1

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defeat by

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in Portugal. She made five appearances throughout the year, scoring three goals.

Senior

Senior Republic of Ireland national team coach

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called up Molloy for the first time on 28 August 2020, for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifier against

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on 19 September 2020. Molloy made her senior international debut in Ireland's next match, against

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on 23 October 2020. She was an 86th-minute substitute for Harriet Scott in Ireland's 1–0 defeat. After allowing Molloy to gain experience with the under-19s, Pauw recalled her to the seniors in November 2021, for

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fixtures against

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and

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. However a hamstring injury sustained in the 2021 FAI Women's Cup Final forced Molloy to drop out of the squad. Molloy was called up again in February 2022, for the

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. She sat her

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mock exams early in order to take part. Molloy made her first start for Ireland on the occasion of her fifth

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, on 19 February 2022 in the 1–0 defeat by

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International appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Ellen 2004 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Women's association football midfielders Wexford Youths W.F.C. players Women's National League (Ireland) players Association footballers from County Kilkenny Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers