Naoisha McAloon (born 17 March 1999) 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 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

Women's Championship The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

club

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

Early career

McAloon played for Castleknock Celtic at youth level and attended Matt Gregg's Just4Keepers coaching school in

Blanchardstown Blanchardstown () is a large outer suburb of Dublin in the modern Counties of Ireland, county of Fingal, Ireland. Located northwest of Dublin city centre, it has developed since the 1960s from a small village to a point where Greater Blanchards ...

Peamount United

McAloon played for

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 ...

from 2016 to 2022. In 2017, her team won second place after a defeat by Shelbourne in the Women's National League Cup. In 2018, her team won against Wexford Youths to win the WNL Cup title. Peamount signed

Niamh Reid Burke Niamh Reid Burke (born 6 August 1991) is an Irish association footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's National League (WNL) team Peamount United. She made five appearances for the senior Republic of Ireland national team, from her d ...

in 2018 and she shared the club's goalkeeping position with McAloon thereafter. The club were Women's National League Champions 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 ...

and McAloon was named in the WNL Team of the Season, although Reid Burke played in the decisive 8–1 win over

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

and the 2019 FAI Cup final defeat by Wexford Youths. The duo continued to rotate the starting goalkeeping position as Peamount United secured a League and Cup "

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 ...

" in their

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- ...

campaign. Reid Burke was preferred as Peamount beat Cork City 6–0 in the 2020 FAI Women's Cup Final and for November's

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

fixture with

Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of the Scottish Women's Football League ...

club Glasgow City, which was lost on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

after a 0–0 draw. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the goalkeeper rotation continued, with McAloon chosen to start the 5–2 UWCL defeat by

ŽFK Spartak Subotica ŽFK Spartak Subotica (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ЖФК Спартак Суботица) is women's association football, women's football team from Subotica, Serbia. The team has won ten national championships, including nine i ...

in August 2021.

Durham

McAloon and team mates at Lewes WFC in 2023 In January 2022, McAloon switched to Durham. In October 2022, she made two saves as Durham upset

Women's Super League 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

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

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 ...

in the

2022–23 FA Women's League Cup The 2022–23 FA Women's League Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Super League and Women's Championship's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Continental AG, who have sponsored the competition since its creation in 2011, and was o ...

International career

Junior

McAloon represented Ireland at youth level while she attended Ratoath College. She progressed to represent the Republic of Ireland national under-17 team and later the Republic of Ireland national under-19 team. While enrolled at

Technological University Dublin Technological University Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) or TU Dublin is Ireland's first technological university, established on 1 January 2019, and with a history stretching back to 1887 through the amalgamated Dub ...

, McAloon was part of the Ireland Universities squad at the

2019 Summer Universiade ) , Nations participating = 118 , Athletes participating = 5,971 , Events = 220 , Sports = 18 , Opening ceremony = 3 July , Closing ceremony = 14 July , Officially opened by = President Se ...

Senior

She received her first call-up to the senior Irish national team in June 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McAloon, Naoisha Living people 1999 births Durham W.F.C. players Peamount United F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Women's National League (Ireland) players Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland expatriate women's association footballers Expatriate women's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Women's Championship (England) players Women's association football goalkeepers Republic of Ireland women's association footballers