‘When I look at the players of today signing autographs I think, wow, we did that’ too’

There is an old saying that is profound and wise and which can be unearthed with a quick search on the internet. The saying goes: "There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory."

Nobody appears to know who said it but it's an astute observation and one Gillian Bennett would, no doubt, agree with. If there is one piece of advice, one central message the Moynalty woman would give to youngsters hoping to make an impact in sport it is neatly wrapped up in that message. Without practice there is no glory.

The 44-year-old mother of three will tell you that during her youth, the hours, countless hours, she spent playing ball helped her to become an international and inter-county footballer.

As a youngster she had wanted to play for Ireland and Meath and was assisted partly by the fact that she grew up in an environment where football was as natural as breathing.

She is a member of a large family. That meant while growing up she was never short of a partner for a kick-about. There was something else in her background which was a big factor in her fostering her natural talent as a footballer - the absence of social media in her formative years.

"I grew up the second youngest of seven, we had no computers, no phones, no technology, you had a ball and somebody to kick it back to you at all times. We were constantly in game mode. We had two piers at home in the yard and they were our goals, our Croke Park, Aviva Stadium, so yes we were in game mode constantly and there was probably a bit of a boy in me who wanted all that.

"That's what I say to my youngsters, any youngster. An hour a week of playing or training with your team, your club, is not going to make you a better footballer or hurler or whatever, it's the practice you do at home that counts. That's what really matters, the extra hours you put in.

"Social media prevents youngsters going out and kicking a ball around but you can certainly see the difference in a child who practices at home, you can see a huge difference."

WORLD CUP

When Vera Pauw's Republic of Ireland team take to the field for their opening game in this year's World Cup against Australia in Sydney on Thursday 20th July, it would be understandable if Gillian Bennett feels a strong twinge of nostalgia as the Girls In Green line up and the strains of Amhran na bFiann are heard around the stadium - and the world.

Bennett was, after all, one of those who played for the Republic of Ireland when the fortunes and misfortunes of the team were rarely seen or heard about in the media; when thoughts of the Girls in Green reaching the World Cup finals would have been fanciful. Not that it was all that long ago either.

As a teenager in the 1990s Bennett played for the Eureka team in Kells managed by Leonard Noone. He's a man Bennett feels should be honoured in some way for what he did for women's soccer in Meath in general, and for individuals like her in particular.

Noone was the manager of Eureka teams that were hugely successful, regularly winning competitions, outshining the big clubs in Dublin.

"Leonard was so successful with various teams but he didn't want to be put on a pedestal. He was unassuming. He didn't get the recognition he deserves." The fact that Eureka competed with the best helped players on the team make a name for themselves - and get noticed.

Bennett, who tended to play as a left-back, was certainly noticed. She was selected for Irish teams at u-16 and u-18 levels before graduating onto the senior side. In all she estimates she played "about 15 to 20 times" for her country at the various grades although she only has one cap to show for it - and a couple of jerseys.

In June Bennett will be presented with another cap - as will every player who turned out for the Republic since the national women's team got up and running 50 years ago.

For most of the past half-century women's football was played in a vacuum with little or no media coverage - or recognition for the players who turned up to go into battle for their country. Slowly, very slowly things have improved.

As recent as 2017 the members of the Republic of Ireland team threatened to go on strike because they were treated like "fifth class citizens."

Bennett says that during her days as an international footballer she, generally, had a whale of a time. A blast. Mostly anyway. She got a chance to play against teams like Poland, Scotland, Belarus, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Faroe Islands; go to places she would never have visited only for football.

"Being involved in international football is brilliant, even when you are a sub. When I was playing there might only be a little report in the papers about our match but even then kids would come up to you at the end look for your autograph.

"When I look at the players of today signing autographs I think wow, we did that too. Also getting the chance to play in venues like Tolka Park, Dalymount Park was just incredible. When you do that it gives you such confidence in yourself.

"When I look back now I wonder if I was fit enough at the time. Could I have been fitter? I twisted my ankle a few times and, looking back now, I probably didn't rehabilitate properly. It was an injury that came back at me over and over again."

So she loved been part of the international razzmatazz but things were far from perfect either. "When I played for Ireland there may have been an issue in terms of the shortage of funds. When we came back from a tournament we had to take off all our gear, put it in a bag and put on our regular gear and go home.

"The tracksuits, we couldn't keep them," she recalls. "You couldn't swap the jerseys, at least not all the time. I do have a few jerseys, a Polish jersey and one from a game against Belgium.

"When we travelled abroad we usually stayed in good hotels but we played in Belarus once and it was probably the longest round trip I ever embarked on in my life.

"We arrived in Minsk and went on a bus journey for about three or four hours to get to this place. The bed linen was filthy, blood stains on the sheets, you slept in all your gear, hood up, you had to mind yourself. The whole infrastructure of the country wasn't what we were used to."

AMERICA

Bennett's international football career may have been varied, eventful, but it was short lived too. In her early twenties the young Moynalty woman decided to take up an offer of a soccer scholarship with a university in Pennsylvania. Some confusion over accommodation left her discouraged with the whole arrangement. She instead went to friends in New York. She lived in the Big Apple for a few years, worked in various jobs, played football for Cavan, yes Cavan, over there before returning home.

Back home she didn't resume her soccer career. Instead she focused on Gaelic football, played for local teams such as St Michael's and Moynalty when they did have a team. She played for Meath too. She was on the panel that won the All-Ireland JFC crown in 1994. She was on the team that reached a National League Div 1 final in 2006. "We should have won that game, we had a huge amount of wides."

Despite the defeat it was a major milestones for the ladies game in the Royal County. Bennett's immense contribution to the journey was recognised in the way she won the 'Irish Independent Sports Person of the Month' award.

She was happy enough to live in Meath work at various jobs locally such as with Midland Waste, and as a GAA development officer. She was also content to turn out in the green and gold on the inter-county front - but she never got back on the international stage.

"There was the fact that I would have had to do a lot more travelling if I went back to the soccer, going up and down to Dublin and so on, and there comes a time in everyone's career when you have to pick one sport or another. I went for Gaelic football. I have no regrets. If I was to sit down and write down all I did in soccer and Gaelic football I don't think it's too bad."

Bennett was 30 when she had her first child, Callum. She has since gone on to have two more, Alex and Katie. She made attempts to resurrect her career, as a goalkeeper, after having her children but each time she seemed to pick up an injury. "My body was trying to tell me something."

She says it was "like a death in the family" when she finally drew the curtain down on her days as a footballer. Bennet (who in recent years returned to studying and is near the end of a degree course in geography and sociology) doesn't look back and torture herself by saying she could or should have done this or that. She had a grand time playing football, whatever the code - and she did turn out for her country. Not many can say that.

When Vera Pauw's team takes to the field in Sydney this summer Bennett may reflect back on those golden days when she was young and God was in His heaven. It would be understandable if she did.