Full name Ciara Grant Name Ciara Grant Position Midfielder 2011–2014 Raheny United Current team UCD Waves | Years Team Height 1.65 m Playing position Role Footballer | |
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Date of birth (1993-06-11) 11 June 1993 (age 22) Place of birth Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland | ||
Ciara Grant (born 11 June 1993) is a Republic of Ireland women's international footballer who currently plays for UCD Waves. She has previously played for Raheny United. In 2010, she was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad that 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. Grant has also played Gaelic football for Donegal GAA.
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Early years
Grant attended Woodlands National School in Letterkenny were her class-mates included Mark English. Between 2005 and 2011 Grant attended the Loreto Convent Secondary School, Letterkenny, where she studied for her Leaving Cert. As a schoolgirl, Grant played association football for Lagan Harps and Kilmacrennan Celtic as well as representing her school. In 2009, she helped Kilmacrennan Celtic win the WFAI Intermediate Cup and in 2011 she was a member of the Loreto team that won the FAIS Senior Girls Cup, the top cup competition for girls school teams in Ireland. Grant also played Gaelic football and basketball. Grant played for Donegal GAA in the 2010 All-Ireland Under-18 Ladies' Football Championship final. In basketball she played as a point guard for both her school and Letterkenny Blaze.
Raheny United
Between 2011 and 2014, Grant played for Raheny United in the Women's National League. During this time, Grant helped United win two successive league titles in 2012–13 and 2013–14. She also helped them win two successive FAI Women's Cups in 2012 and 2013. In the 2013 final against Castlebar Celtic at the Aviva Stadium, Grant scored United's opening goal in spectacular fashion. Without breaking stride, Grant controlled a dropping ball and let it bounce before lifting it over the Castlebar Celtic goalkeeper.
UCD Waves
Since 2011 Grant has attended University College Dublin. In her first year she studied physiotherapy before transferring to medicine. She is due to graduate in 2017. In 2014–15 when UCD Waves entered a team in the Women's National League, Grant switched over from Raheny United. In November 2014, she appeared in her third consecutive FAI Women's Cup final, losing out 2–1 after extra-time to her former club. In addition to playing in the WNL, Grant also plays for UCD at intervarsity level, playing in teams alongside Dora Gorman, Siobhán Killeen and Julie-Ann Russell. In 2014 Grant was captain of the UCD team that won the WSCAI Futsal Cup, defeating the holders, I.T. Sligo, 3–2 in the final at the Mardyke Arena. Grant also scored for UCD in a 3–2 win over I.T. Sligo in the 2013–14 WSCAI Premier Division final. In 2015 Grant was captain of the UCD team that won the WSCAI Intervarsity Cup.
International career
Grant has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-15, under-17, under-19, university and senior level. In 2010, together with Megan Campbell, Dora Gorman, Denise O'Sullivan, Siobhán Killeen and Clare Shine, she was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad that 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. In December 2011, together with Dora Gorman, Megan Campbell, Julie-Ann Russell, Louise Quinn, Grace Murray and Karen Duggan, Grant was included in an FAI scholarship programme for potential senior women's internationals. Grant made her senior international debut in November 2012, in a 5–0 friendly defeat to the United States, replacing Niamh Fahey in the 57th minute. She has subsequently represented the Republic of Ireland in the 2013 and 2014 Cyprus Cups and in their 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying campaigns. Grant also represented Ireland at the 2013 and 2015 Summer Universiades.