Katie McCarthy delighted with Cork City WFC's squad bond

Katie McCarthy is no stranger to the Continental Tyres Women’s National League with the Inniscarra native into her fifth season in the league and her second spell with Cork City W.F.C.

Having started with Cork Women’s F.C. in their debut season in the league – Katie moved on to play for DLR Waves and Wexford Youths before returning to Leeside under Charlie Lynch last season. The midfielder has been a big part of Cork’s recent upturn in fortune but is quick to praise the team 

"It's great to be part of the squad this season – we have a very talented bunch of players and I think we’re finally starting to show how good Cork football can be – something that will only improve as some of the squad adapts further to the league. The vibe between the players is really good, there’s a great bond among them and you can see that in the commitment to training is starting to pay off on the field as well.”

While Katie is happy with how the team is improving, she did express a little bit of irritation with the broken-up nature of the Women’s National League this season “It’s been a little bit frustrating how broken up this season has been so far – we’ve been unlucky with the weather so far and seen a few games cancelled. It’s a shame as we’ll play anyone anywhere if we can – as a team, we just want to play. Thankfully the manager has kept us on our toes in training and has arranged different activities for us when we have had extended breaks to maintain sharpness. This has really helped players get a better experience from the setup and a huge credit must go to Niall and his management team for this. With the amount of games cancelled, a summer season may have to be looked at here, pitches would be more playable and we might see a slight spike in terms of attendances as well although we’re fortunate to get solid crowds in Cork – we’d always love more people to come to games!”

The midfielder has been impressed by the set-up so far this season and can only see the club improving “Huge work has been done by the board and management to bring in new sponsors and improve the clubs profile and it’s the little things in Cork that really help. We’re always on the lookout for new partners with the club! Recently we’ve seen Just Cuts for Ladies, part of the Jeff Devine Group come on board as our main sponsor and they’ve been very good for us. Hopefully that will help us become the most stylish team in the league!”