Why You Should Be Excited About Carla Ward Managing The Irish Women’s National Team
By Emma O’Sullivan, Sports Editor
On 15 January, Carla Ward was announced as the new head coach of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team (WNT). Those who have watched the English Women’s Super League (WSL) for the past few seasons will be well aware of her credentials and abilities as a manager, and her appointment as head coach is a welcome announcement from the FAI – one of few in recent years. In comparison to the very publicly dragged out search for a manager for the men’s senior team, the appointment of Ward came relatively quickly following the departure of Eileen Gleeson and her coaching staff last month. Of course, this move from the FAI is not without controversy, as their treatment of Colin Healy, who served as assistant manager to Gleeson, has made headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. Despite all of this, Ward coming in to manage an Irish team with great potential couldn’t be described as anything other than exciting, and here is why you should be looking forward to her time with the Girls in Green.
Ward played as a midfielder in a career which spanned fourteen years prior to her move to full-time management in January 2018. She had signed with Sheffield United as a player-assistant manager in November 2017, and was given the job as manager two months later. Under Ward, Sheffield United were successful in their application to the FA Women’s Championship (the second division on the football ladder below the WSL) and finished fifth in their first season. They finished second in the 2019-20 season, and Ward left in July 2020. She was named Birmingham City head coach shortly afterwards, arriving at a club who had just narrowly avoided relegation and faced many issues regarding the running of the club. Only 10 senior players were retained that summer, and Ward faced a serious rebuild of a club in turmoil in what was her first managerial role in the top-flight of English football. The season provided challenges, with players dissatisfied with facilities, a lack of medical support and inadequate travel provisions, but Ward was able to keep the club in the WSL, finishing eleventh out of twelve teams. She was nominated for WSL Manager of the Year for achieving this feat. She resigned at the end of the season in May 2021, and was signed by Aston Villa to be their new manager for the upcoming season.
The 2020-21 season marked Aston Villa’s first in the WSL after winning the Championship and earning promotion to the professional division of women’s football. They finished one place ahead of Ward’s Birmingham City in the table, escaping relegation by just 3 points, and subsequently sacked their head coach and interim manager in favour of bringing Ward on board. The club finished ninth in Ward’s first season in charge, however the 2022-23 season surpassed everyone’s expectations. Villa finished 5th in the league and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, performing consistently to beat the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal over the course of the season. A key signing made by Ward was England international Rachel Daly from Houston Dash. Daly had spent the past few seasons primarily as a left-back, but Ward transformed her into the most clinical striker in the league as she equalled the record for goals scored in a single WSL season. She won both the Golden Boot and Player of the Season in what was an unbelievable individual season. The 2023-24 season was less fruitful for Ward and Aston Villa, finishing seventh in the league following the departure of some key players during the summer. Ward stepped down as manager with a year left on her deal in May 2024.
Ward made Aston Villa staples of the WSL after a rocky start to life in the top-flight for the club. The foundations and structure laid by her have strengthened the club, and she achieved things that would’ve been deemed impossible a few seasons prior. Her transformation of Rachel Daly may be of particular interest for Irish fans, as Irish player Katie McCabe is currently in a very similar position to Daly as a left-back. If Ward can achieve the same levels of success with McCabe as she did with Daly, it would give Ireland a great chance at qualifying for the 2027 World Cup. She has brought in Alan Mahon as assistant, who brings with him many years of coaching experience at Manchester City, as well as retaining Emma Byrne as goalkeeper coach. Ward notably spent the summer in Paris at the Olympics with Emma Hayes - the most successful WSL manager in history - and her USA team, where they won gold. There is an air of excitement around this new management, and with Ward’s experience and past achievements, it makes for a refreshing note of positivity within the Irish camp for the future.
