Méabh De Búrca (born 11 August 1988) is an Irish former

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 lea ...

who plays for the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

and Women's National League club

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. At club level she previously played in America for Boston Aztec, in Norway for

Amazon Grimstad Amazon Grimstad FK is a Professional Norway, Norwegian Women's football (soccer), women's football club from Grimstad. It is named after the Amazons of Greek mythology. It was founded in 1999 when the women's football section split from FK Jerv. ...

and for Swedish club Eskilstuna United. De Búrca can play in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

Club career

De Búrca joined Salthill Devon in 2000, initially playing in the boys' team. She progressed through the ranks alongside

Niamh Fahey Niamh Fahey ( ; born 13 October 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Women's Super League club Liverpool, which she captains, and formerly the Republic of Ireland national team. She ...

, and the pair helped

win the 2007 FAI Women's Cup. While Fahey departed to

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

, De Búrca stayed in Ireland and represented Galway in the

2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2008–09 is the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football (soccer), football club tournament (since rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League), the most important trophy in European club football. The first qualifyi ...

. In 2009 De Búrca moved to the

University of New Haven The University of New Haven (UNH) is a private university in West Haven, Connecticut, United States. History The University of New Haven was founded in 1920 as the New Haven YMCA Junior College, a division of Northeastern University, which sha ...

on a soccer scholarship. In the 2011 season she also played for Boston Aztec, the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

' reserve team, who compete at WPSL level. De Búrca made 13 appearances as Aztec won their conference and reached the national semi–final. After graduating with a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Sports Management, De Búrca signed a professional contract to play the 2012 season with Norwegian club

. De Búrca spent the 2013 season playing for Eskilstuna United alongside compatriot Louise Quinn. The team won the Elitettan and

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

into the

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

. In December 2013 De Búrca signed for new Women's National League entrant Galway W.F.C.

International career

De Búrca has won over 50 caps for Ireland, having previously represented her country at Under–17 level and as captain of the Under–19 team. Her full international debut came in a 1–0 defeat to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

in September 2006. In 2007, while a student at

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

, De Búrca played for Irish Universities at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pr ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Burca, Meabh 1988 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Association footballers from Galway (city) Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Women's association football defenders Eskilstuna United DFF players Salthill Devon F.C. players Amazon Grimstad players League of Ireland Women's Premier Division players Galway W.F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Toppserien players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Irish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Women's Premier Soccer League players Boston Aztec (WPSL) players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Elitettan players 21st-century Irish sportswomen