Grace Moloney (born 1 March 1993) is an Irish professional

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 le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

club

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. In 2010 aged 15, she was called up to the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team ) , Association = Women's Football Association of Ireland , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Vera Pauw , Captain = Katie McCabe , Most caps = Emma Byrne (134) , Top scorer = Olivia ...

under 15's, later playing for the under 17s and under 19's squads, as well as for the senior women's national team. In April 2019 Moloney signed a new contract with Reading. She had re-established herself as the first choice goalkeeper and helped the club reach the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

semi-final, which they lost to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. Reading recognised Moloney's 150th appearance for the club with a presentation before a 1–0

2019–20 FA Women's League Cup The 2019–20 FA Women's League Cup was the ninth edition of the FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Continental AG, who sponsored the competition since its creation, and is officiall ...

defeat by

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in November 2019. She signed another two-year contract extension with Reading in February 2021. On 6 March 2022, Moloney made her 200th appearance for Reading.

Early life

Moloney was born on 1 March 1993 in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

to Bill Moloney. Her paternal grandfather is from

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

and paternal grandmother from

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

. She is a life-long fan of

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

(her family team), a team she moved to from

during her youth career, later moving back due to the facilities available to allow her to pursue her sport at an international level. Her father Bill, her self-confessed number one fan, travels to all her international games.

Club career

Moloney played for Reading in the second-division FA WSL 2 during the 2015 FA WSL season. She helped the team win the league and signed a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

contract with the team ahead of the 2016 season in the FAWSL 1. When Reading subsequently signed Mary Earps, Moloney was largely restricted to playing in the

FA Women's League Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pri ...

. Although she had a good relationship with Earps, Moloney was unhappy about being dropped and joined

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

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in June 2016. In June 2016 Moloney joined

on loan.

International career

Youth

In 2010, Moloney was a key member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad who were runners-up in the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship and quarter-finalists in the

2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Women's association football, women's football tournament is the second such tournament, and was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 5 to 25 September 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six c ...

. 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 ...

she was named 2011 Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year.

Senior

Moloney was included in the senior

for the first time in August 2010, for a friendly against the

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, followed by 2011 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. She returned to the senior squad as the third goalkeeper for the 2014 Cyprus Cup, but had to make a late withdrawal after she injured her back while training with Reading. On 5 May 2014,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Susan Ronan Susan "Sue" Ronan (born 21 February 1964) is an Irish football coach and former player, who managed the Republic of Ireland women's national football team from 2010 until 2016. Ronan represented Welsox and Shelbourne at club level, and made he ...

named Moloney in an experimental squad for a friendly against the Basque Country. Moloney replaced Eve Badana at half-time to play the second half of Ireland's 2–0 defeat in

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, which was not classified as a full international fixture. Moloney 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 ...

at the 2016 Cyprus Cup, playing the full match in Ireland's opening 2–0 defeat by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Despite the result, the Football Association of Ireland's website praised Moloney's "assured performance", while she expressed pride and delight at achieving her longstanding ambition of playing for Ireland at senior level. In August 2016 Ronan called up Moloney to a young and predominantly home-based senior squad for a training camp in Wales. She played in the first of two challenge matches against the Welsh hosts, a 0–0 draw at

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's cen ...

in Newport. Colin Bell replaced Sue Ronan as Ireland's coach in February 2017 and he soon installed

Marie Hourihan Marie Hourihan (born 10 March 1989) is a retired Irish footballer and coach who is currently manager of Stoke City Women. She previously played for clubs including Chelsea, Birmingham City and Manchester City W.F.C. She represented the Republic ...

as the long-term goalkeeping successor to

Emma Byrne Emma Anne Byrne (born 14 June 1979) is an Irish football goalkeeper who played for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team on a record 134 occasions and served as captain of the team. She spent almost 17 years with Arsenal before ...

, believing Moloney to be too small. On 9 October 2018, Moloney played in Ireland's 4–0 friendly defeat by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Ostróda Ostróda (; Old Prussian: ''Austrāti'') is a town in northern Poland, in the historic region of Masuria. It is the seat of the Ostróda County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and has approximately 33,191 inhabitants (2009). Ostróda is ...

, coming on for Hourihan at half-time. Moloney was given her first competitive appearance in an important UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifier against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 ow ...

on 1 December 2020. She won the confidence of coach

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch Women's association football, 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, i ...

due to her improved form at club level with Reading. Despite Ireland's 3–1 defeat Moloney's performance was hailed as "fantastic" by Pauw. In an interview with

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ holds the television ...

in April 2021, Moloney confirmed her admiration for Emma Byrne:

Career statistics

Club

International Appearances

Honours

Association football

*2011:

Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year

References

External links

Official Twitter page
* * *
Grace Moloney
at Football Association of Ireland (FAI) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moloney, Grace 1993 births Living people Reading F.C. Women players Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Republic of Ireland women's association footballers FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players English people of Irish descent Irish people of English descent Footballers from Slough Women's association football goalkeepers Aston Villa W.F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers