Áine O'Gorman

Club career

O'Gorman played club football for Stella Maris, while attending sports scholarships at Sallynoggin College and IT Carlow. She was named in an Irish Colleges team which travelled to Scotland for two friendly matches in April 2009. She was also selected to represent Leinster, helping them to the 2009 interprovincial title. Having switched to Peamount United, O'Gorman struck a hat-trick in the 2010 FAI Women's Cup final, as Peamount beat Salthill Devon 4–2 at Tolka Park.

O'Gorman also played Gaelic football for Bray Emmets and in September 2010 helped the club win the Wicklow Ladies Senior Football Championship, scoring four goals and two points in the final.

She signed for FA WSL club Doncaster Rovers Belles in October 2010, after a successful trial. O'Gorman was given accommodation at the Ramada Jarvis hotel in Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, with other signings Kylla Sjoman and Maria Karlsson. She made her debut in Doncaster's 1–0 FA Women's Cup win at Chelsea in March 2011.

O'Gorman found the standard of play in England higher than she had been used to, and admitted to some disappointment with her first season total of four goals. Despite this, her hard working style had endeared her to the South Yorkshire club's supporters. At the end of the 2011 FA WSL season she returned to Peamount on loan ahead of the Irish club's 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain.

Although she was increasingly tired of living in a hotel, O'Gorman returned to Doncaster Rovers Belles for the 2012 FA WSL season. She was happy to be joined by Julie-Ann Russell who also signed. In September 2012 she marked her final game for the club with a 35-yard lob in The Belles' 3–2 defeat at title-winning Arsenal.

In October 2013, O'Gorman provided an assist for Stephanie Roche to score a celebrated goal in Peamount's win over Wexford Youths. Roche's goal eventually finished second in the FIFA Puskás Award, after it went viral on YouTube. O'Gorman joked that her pass had given Roche "a lot of work to do".

When popular Peamount manager Eileen Gleeson left for UCD Waves in 2014, O'Gorman was one of several Peamount players to follow Gleeson to her new club. She secured the 2014–15 Golden Boot when rival striker Katie McCabe's club Raheny United received a walkover in their final fixture at Cork City, who failed to muster a team. O'Gorman had already been named the WNL Player of the Season.

International career

O'Gorman was capped by the Republic of Ireland at U-17 and U-19 level. She was called-up to the senior panel for the 2006 Algarve Cup and made her debut in Ireland's final match at the tournament: a 4–0 defeat by Denmark in Lagoa. She became established in the senior team as a 16-year-old and featured in Ireland's subsequent qualifying campaigns. When signing for Doncaster aged 21 in October 2010, O'Gorman had accrued 38 senior caps.

In September 2012 O'Gorman reached a half century of appearances for Ireland, in a 2–0 EURO 2013 qualifying win over Israel at Ramat Gan Stadium. National team coach Susan Ronan experimented by deploying versatile O'Gorman as a right-back during the team's unsuccessful 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign. She continued to play further forward at club level: "I am happy to play right-back if I’m asked by Sue Ronan with the national team but I see myself as a striker".

In May 2015, O'Gorman captained Ireland for the first time, in a daunting friendly away to world champions the United States. After the match had been arranged, it was discovered to be outside FIFA's designated dates for international matches, so regular captain Emma Byrne was not released by her English club Arsenal. Ireland took credit from their 3–0 defeat, with O'Gorman an "able marshall" in defence.

International goals

Personal life

In November 2015 O'Gorman was employed as a personal trainer and was engaging in charity fundraising.