Karen Duggan (born 29 May 1991) 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 le ...

who plays for Peamount United of the Women's National League (WNL). She has previously played for

UCD Waves UCD Women's Soccer Club is an Irish association football club based in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is the women's association football team of University College Dublin. Founded in 1966, UCD are one of the oldest women's football clubs in the ...

and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. Between

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Duggan was selected for the WNL Team of the Season for four successive seasons. She was the only player selected all four seasons. In 2015–16 she was also WNL Senior Player of the Season. Duggan has also played

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

at club, university and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

level.

Early years

Duggan was born in

Piltown Piltown (), historically known as Ballypoyle, is a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It lies on the R698 regional road, which was the N24 national primary road before the locality was bypassed in 2002. Approaching Piltown from Carrick-on- ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

. She is the daughter of Pat and Bernie Duggan and has an older brother, John. Between 2005 and 2009 Duggan attended Scoil Mhuire (Greenhills) in Carrick-on-Suir where she studied for her Leaving Cert. While there she played various sports including

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. As a schoolgirl she also played association football for Piltown L.F.C. and began playing camogie with

Piltown GAA Piltown GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Piltown, County Kilkenny, Ireland. A Piltown GAA club was founded in 1887. Several versions existed until the modern club founded in 1953 following the advent of Parish Rule in Kilke ...

. Duggan also played for

Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Kilkenny GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Cill Chainnigh) is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kilkenny. The cou ...

in the 2009 All-Ireland Minor Camogie Championship final.

Club career

University of Limerick

Between 2009 and 2013 Duggan attended the University of Limerick where she gained a 2.1 Honours Science Education Degree. She also qualified to become a science teacher. Together with

Julie-Ann Russell Julie-Ann Russell (born 28 March 1991) is a Republic of Ireland women's international footballer who currently plays for Galway in the Irish Women's National League. In 2014, Russell was voted both FAI Senior Women's International Player of ...

, Duggan also played for the UL association football team that won the 2010 WSCAI Intervarsities Cup. They defeated a UCD team that featured Louise Quinn 2–1 in the final at Turners Cross. Duggan and Russell also helped the team win the WSCAI Premier Division in 2010–11. They also played for the UL ladies

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

team that won the 2011 WSCAI National Futsal Intervarsities title. Duggan also represented UL at

, helping them win the 2010 Ashbourne Shield and then finish as runners up in the 2013 Ashbourne Cup. While a student at UL Duggan also played association football for Tramore in the Waterford Ladies League. In September 2010 Duggan scored twice for Tramore in a 3–0 win over Johnville in the Waterford Ladies Cup final. Tramore completed a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, having already won the league title.

Peamount United

Duggan, along with fellow UL student Julie-Ann Russell, began playing for Peamount United in 2011 and subsequently played for the club in their

2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2011−12 UEFA Women's Champions League was the eleventh edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held in the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany on 17 May 2012. As in the past two Champions League seasons, ...

campaign and during the inaugural 2011–12 Women's National League season. In her first season with the club, Duggan helped Peamount win both the league title and the

WNL Cup The League of Ireland Women's Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn na mBan i Sraith na hÉireann, sponsor name SSE Airtricity League Women's Premier Division) is a professional women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland, org ...

. Duggan was also selected for the WNL Team of the Season in both

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and 2013–14. Between 2013 and 2014, while playing with Peamount United, Duggan was also employed as a science teacher at Scoil Chríost Rí in

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

. She also helped coach the school's association football team.

UCD Waves

The 2014–15 Women's National League season saw former Peamount United manager,

Eileen Gleeson Eileen Gleeson is the Head of Women and Girls Football for the Football Association of Ireland. She is responsible for helping to grow participation and retention of women and girls at all levels of the game, while also supporting wider football ...

take charge of

. Duggan was one of a number of Peamount United players, including Julie-Ann Russell,

Aine O'Gorman Aine may refer to: * Áine, Irish goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty * Áine (given name), an Irish female given name * Aine, Dahanu Aine is a village in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, India. It is located in the Dahanu taluka. ...

Dora Gorman Dora Gorman (born 18 February 1993) is an Irish physician and Republic of Ireland women's international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Peamount United of the Women's National League (WNL). In 2010, she was captain of the Republic o ...

, Chloe Mustaki and Emily Cahill who all subsequently followed Gleeson to UCD Waves. While playing for UCD Waves, Duggan was selected for the WNL Team of the Season for a third and fourth time in 2014–15 and 2015–16. In 2015–16 she was also named WNL Senior Player of the Season. In November 2014 Duggan started working as a business analyst and management consultant for

Accenture Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...

. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

she was named in the WNL Team of the Season again. She played in the 2017 FAI Women's Cup final for UCD Waves at the Aviva Stadium, but they were upset 1–0 by Cork City.

Peamount United

Ahead of the 2018 Women's National League season, Duggan returned to Peamount United. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

The Peas recaptured the League title for the first time since 2011–12. Duggan also played in Peamount's 2018 and 2019 FAI Women's Cup final defeats by

Wexford Youths Wexford Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. They compete in the League of Ireland First Division. The club joined the league after being awarded a First Division licence for the 2007 League ...

. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Duggan displayed good form, being named November Player of the Month as Peamount retained their WNL title. She also scored in the 2020 FAI Women's Cup Final as The Peas vanquished Cork City 6–0 at Tallaght Stadium. At the WNL Awards in December 2020, Duggan was named in the Team of the Season for a record sixth time and named Player of the Year for the second time.

International career

Duggan has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at under 15, under 17, under 19, university and senior level. In December 2011, Duggan was included in a Football Association of Ireland (FAI) scholarship programme for potential senior women's internationals. Duggan made her senior debut at the

2013 Cyprus Cup The 2013 Cyprus Women's Cup was the sixth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. It took place between 3–14 March 2013. Defending champions France cancelled their participation ju ...

, in a 1–0 win over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. She also represented the Republic of Ireland in their

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

and UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying campaigns. Duggan also represented Ireland at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

. 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 2016 Senior Women's International Player of the Year. In September 2018 Duggan retired from international football after winning 35 caps, following Ireland's failed 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying campaign. She later declined an approach from her former Peamount and UCD coach Eileen Gleeson, who was named the incoming national team 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 ...

's assistant, to resurrect her international career in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifiers.

Media career

Duggan was part of

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 ...

punditry A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

team for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, alongside

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his prof ...

, Liam Brady, Richie Sadlier and Kevin Doyle.

Honours

Association football

;Individual *

Senior International Women's Player of the Year **2016 *

Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year ** 2008 * Women's National League Senior Player of the Season ** 2015–16,

* Women's National League Team of the Season **

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16,

; Peamount United * Women's National League **''Winners'': 2011–12,

: 3 **''Runners-up'':

, 2013–14: 2 *

** ''Winners'':

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: 2 *

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI ...

**''Winners'':

: 1 **''Runners-up'': 2012, 2018, 2019: 3 ;

* Women's National League **''Runners-up'': 2014–15 *

**''Runners-up'': 2014, 2017: 2 *

**''Runners-up'':

: 1 ; University of Limerick *WSCAI Premier Division ** ''Winners'': 2010–11 *WSCAI Intervarsities Cup ** ''Winners'': 2010 *WSCAI National Futsal Intervarsities ** ''Winners'': 2011

Camogie

;

* All-Ireland Minor Camogie Championship ** ''Winners'':

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

;

All-Ireland Intermediate Club Camogie Championship The All-Ireland Club Camogie Championship is a competition for club teams in the Irish women’s field sport of camogie. It is contested by the senior club champions of the leading counties and organised by An Cumann Camógaíochta. Trophy The t ...

** ''Winners'': 2014–15 ; University of Limerick *Ashbourne Shield ** ''Winners'':

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* Ashbourne Cup **''Runners-up'': 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Karen 1991 births Living people Alumni of the University of Limerick Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Peamount United F.C. players DLR Waves players Women's National League (Ireland) players Association footballers from County Kilkenny Kilkenny camogie players Irish schoolteachers Republic of Ireland women's futsal players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders UL GAA camogie players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers