Ireland on hunt for new women’s head coach as Eileen Gleeson's contract not renewed

With the FAI deciding not to allow Eileen Gleeson to continue her role as head coach of the Republic of Ireland senior international side, the organisation’s recruitment team are back seeking their third head coach between the men’s and women’s senior teams in the last 16 months.

Having first taken on the job as an interim basis in August 2023, Gleeson led the Girls in Green to promotion to League A in the UEFA Nations League, winning six out of six, before being confirmed as head coach on a full-time basis 12 months ago.

Her team performed admirably in the qualifiers for the European Championship having been drawn aginast three of the top six teams in the world in France, England and Sweden even if they finished bottom of the group.

The campaign included a memorable 3-1 win over France in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

However, having steered Ireland by minnows Georgia in the play-off semi-final, they lost to Wales in the play-off final and have missed out on next summer’s Euros in Switzerland.

That failure has fed into today’s decision not to extend her contract.

The FAI stated today that:

At a meeting of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Board and following a review, a decision was taken not to offer a new contract to Eileen Gleeson to continue as Head Coach of the Ireland Women’s National Team (WNT).

FAI Chief Football Officer Marc Canham said: “It is important to recognise the leadership that Eileen brought to our Women’s National Team in topping our League B in the UEFA Nations League, guiding them into the Qualifying Play-Offs for EURO 2025 and continuing to build on the legacy that has developed over recent years.” 

The process to recruit a new Head Coach will begin immediately.

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— extratime.com (@extratime.com) 10 December 2024 at 22:06