MARISSA CALLAGHAN: ‘Why I feel 100% at home on the football pitch’

She grew up in the Divis Flats in west Belfast, shy and lacking in confidence, as she remembers, “I used to be terrified even when I was asked to read out in class”, and while never academically inclined , she used to be so excited about her weekly PE classes she would prep her kit the night before, full of unbounded enthusiasm.

“I just adored PE, and I was great at sprinting, the 800m and surprisingly the shot-putt too. But football was, and always will be, my first love, after my family of course.”

Callaghan laments that, growing up in a Catholic enclave, she never had the chance to meet others from the community that lay behind the peace wall near her home, but that changed when she joined North Belfast team Newington Girls (which later became Cliftonville Ladies) as a teenager.

“I realised the peace wall near where we lived had been keeping us apart from the other side of the community, when all along we should have been friends. Catholic, Protestant, that didn’t matter to me. What came to matter were the shared goals we worked towards, and I realised that football, like so many other sports, really can bring people of all different backgrounds together and that is the most wonderful thing.”

Back then, there was scant female engagement in Northern Ireland football, but Marissa is now proud to have been part of a vanguard, led by the IFA, who have shown that, these days, the football pitch is not the sole preserve of boys and men.

“We had such a lack of opportunity when I was growing up, but now it’s flipped and if you are four or five, female, or male, you can join a team; there are so many opportunities across the country to get involved in football, and the Irish Football Association have played such a massive role in that, in terms of the ‘Football for All’ campaign. They have grown the game here in a very big way, and used so many innovative strategies in order to do that.

“When the men’s Northern Ireland team qualified for the Euros in 2016 that was a massive moment. And we as the women’s team are now following in their footsteps. I work with the IFA and in my role as Girls’ Participation Officer I see firsthand the growth of the game, even from our own success in making the Euros. The opportunities are there.”

Callaghan, mum to two-year-old Quinn, went off to Alabama in the US to hone her footballing prowess on leaving school, and when she returned she really began to take her commitment to the beautiful game seriously.

Obviously, becoming captain of the Northern Ireland Women’s Team is an astonishing achievement, and one she is immensely proud of.

“I love our wee country and it is an incredible honour to represent Northern Ireland at an international level, but I honestly also feel so privileged to have become a role model for female footballers here, and I get so many letters from parents telling me how much their daughters admire me and want to be like me, and I take a lot of time to reply to all of those messages, because I do want young girls to know that when I started out I was shy, unsure, had low self-esteem, but that I was able to grow past that and flourish through football, and my message to them is that if I can do it, with the right kind of dedication, then so can they.”

Marissa has had innumerable proud moments in her career, but it was Northern Ireland playing Ukraine, both home and away, that stands out lucidly in her mind as a moment of particular glory on the pitch.

“Our away game, we won 2-1. Then, for the home game, we felt this immense pressure to get a win on home ground at Seaview. It was 0-0 at half-time; in the second half I actually scored our first goal, and I cried in celebration because it changed the mood, and then Nadine Caldwell game on to score a second goal. Those were such important goals that led us to the Euros.”

Marissa added: “I feel like I’m living the dream.

“For me there was a moment where I was standing as captain with the Northern Ireland team and it was televised, and my son Quinn, my family told me, was actually reaching out and touching the TV screen and just him watching that made me feel so very proud.

“ I’ve become a role model for women’s football in Northern Ireland and I take that very, very seriously.

“If you had told me when I was a young girl that this is how it would turn out I would never have believed you.

“My career has taken me on this path of huge success and being able to be a role model and to encourage other young people, and especially young girls, to play football, I mean that is something that makes me proud beyond words.”

It’s in the midst of the fray of a game that Marissa feels most at “home”.

“No matter if it’s for club or country, when you’re on the field it’s a big opportunity for self-expression; you go for it, it’s an indescribable feeling. You get that kind of nervous excitement before a match and that’s something that no matter what else you do in your life it’s not something you can replicate anywhere else. It’s a unique emotion.”

‘CHERISHED CAMARADERIE OF NI TEAM MATES’

Callaghan describes the “intense camaraderie” she has with her teammates, as they group together in the locker room before heading out onto the pitch before a pressured match, the prospect of success or failure all before them.

“That feeling you get before a game with your teammates, it’s something you always cherish together. There’s nothing like it. And it’s so much more special when you go out to play that for your country, for Northern Ireland; you can’t wait to get out there. You know, you do everything together and you trust each other instinctively in the thick of the game, and we socialise together too, although lockdown has made that difficult, but we do have a night out planned for December.”

One doubts that as lean, mean athletes they’d be overdoing it: “When we qualified for the Euros, that was a pretty late night. We partied in style and there were certainly a few sore heads the next day. And that’s all I’ll say!”

‘I THINK FOOTBALL HAS SHOWN ME WHAT WE CAN ALL ACHIEVE WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER’

What does Marissa have to say about those of us couch-locked, lazybones whose greatest form of exercise is, say, walking up the stairs several times a day, or moving between the refrigerator and the living room?

“There are people out there who, even if you mention exercise, they are just not interested, but it’s as simple as walking out the door and going for a walk, even if it’s just to the local shops or around the area where you live.

“I found in lockdown that there is so much tranquillity, really, in just getting out there and walking; it clears your head and helps you gather your thoughts. You know, life is so busy and we don’t get enough time to ourselves. For me, what I would say is, just pop the headphones in and, even if it’s just a 20 or 30-minute walk somewhere close to you, that is a brilliant way to start.”

Callaghan very much sees football and sport more generally as a very powerful way of bringing people from both sides of Northern Ireland’s historic divide, and those of other orientations and ethnicities, together, because in the midst of a game, no matter your creed or politics or cultural background, everyone is focused on a shared goal.

She said: “I really do think that sport is key for that, and an amazing way to bring people from both sides of our community together.

“Even as a kid, growing up in Divis, I didn’t know anybody outside of my community and you don’t always even have the opportunity to meet other people from different backgrounds and it was through football that I was able to do that.

“Football has allowed me to meet people of all backgrounds, to go to America, to travel the world and to develop a broader perspective on everything.

“And it was because of football that I first met the Protestants behind the peace wall that was near us, a wall that kept us apart, and now we’re playing together and we’re all friends. So that is what sport can do.

“Protestant, Catholic, that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is the friendships, the camaraderie with my teammates and the shared goals we work so hard together to achieve.

“I think football has shown me what we can achieve when we work together.”

If Marissa had a magic wand and could change one thing about Northern Ireland overnight, she is adamant that it should entail “far more sunshine and much less rain. But really the weather that we have right now at the moment, nice, crisp, autumnal days - that’s perfect football weather for sure.

“Northern Ireland isn’t perfect but I am so proud of this country.”

‘SPORTS DAY WAS MY HIGHLIGHT OF THE SCHOOL YEAR’

Tell us your earliest childhood memories?

Playing in the street with the boys and girls, mostly football obviously. I was kicking a ball about pretty much since I could walk.

Your school days - what did you excel at?

I loved school. It wasn’t until lower sixth that I really made the decision that studying wasn’t going to take me any further because my main passion was always PE. This sounds so sad, but I remember every week just being so excited for PE class, I actually loved it that much. Like, I would be getting my PE kit ready from the night before and was literally so looking forward to it, always.

Sports day was always a highlight of the school calendar for me.

How would you spend an ideal day off?

With my partner Paula and my son Quinn who has just turned two and is completely obsessed with farm animals and yes, he does like football too. We’d go like to a local farm - he’d enjoy that and it would make us all happy.

Who in your life makes you laugh the most?

I have two friends who make me laugh so much, and one of them is my childhood friend Louise Irvine. We met playing football together at a very young age, and we’ve been friends now for over 20 years. Another is Demi Vance, who is my roommate within the Northern Ireland Football team set-up.

Who is your best friend?

My partner, Paula. She has always been a massive influence in helping me with my football career. We met aged 26, when she was working for Carnmoney Ladies football team, doing a bit of goal-keeping.

Who is your favourite football player in the entire world?

Christiano Ronaldo. He’s unbelievable and even at the fine age of 36 he’s still banging the goals in.

What kind of music do you like to listen to in your down time?

I like dance and chill out music and artists like Pink, Ed Sheeran, Adele and Dermot Kennedy.

Favourite film?

Man On Fire.

What kind of books do you like to read?

Self-help books, and football and management books.

If you were having an ideal dinner party to which you could invite anyone from history who would you bring?

I would bring my Granny Callaghan and my Granda Green. I never got to meet them because they passed away before I was born. I’ve heard so many stories about them and I was told all about the people they were growing up, so actually getting to meet them would be the best. I’d make them a good bowl of Irish stew and we’d have a few beers.