Maeve Williams had a whirlwind 2025. In January, Williams, a life-long Waterford fan, became the first player ever to sign for the club’s senior team after the inception of it’s women’s side.
Fast-forward a season and Williams is now club captain. That would have been enough for most, but Williams’ ambition stretches further. While adept between the posts Williams is just as talented with a pen between her fingers. The keeper graduated from South East Technological University in Carlow just last year. It is apparent that a wise head rests on young shoulders.
Now, she turns her attention to her first full season as Waterford captain. Ahead of that, Williams sat down with The Halfway Line to talk leadership, modern goalkeeping and representing her nation.
‘I grew up in a footballing environment’ recalls Williams
Williams stands now as one of the most respected and consistent goalkeepers in the League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division. Last term, the Irish shot stopper made more saves than any goalkeeper still active in the division with a whopping 116.
But how did it all begin for Williams? The Halfway Line asked Williams to take us back in time and explain what inspired her to play football in the first place,
“When I was smaller, I grew up in a football house” Williams said with a knowing smile.
“So my dad would have been football mad, he’s a huge Celtic fan and a huge Blues fan as well! I was growing up with football on the telly and watching games.
“I have an older brother that played football. So him and his friends used to kick balls at me in the back garden. Probably how I ended up being a goalkeeper! I suppose I kind of grew up in a football environment.
“I was lucky enough to be a part of a grassroots club that had such a good community of people around us there. So I was always kind of welcome at the grassroots club. I was just playing with the men’s team in the off season when I was younger with Wexford Youths, as they were then, because I used to go watch games there.”
Of course Williams would go onto play for Wexford FC and lift silverware at the AVIVA Stadium with the club. Now she’s back at her childhood side, how has her motivation for playing changed?
“[At Waterford] We speak quite a lot about, what’s your voice and why do you do it” Williams thoughtfully explained.
“I suppose a lot of the why for me would be to better myself. A lot of my motivation would come from inside myself. And what I want to improve on, for example how I want to play this year on last year, I want to perform better. I want my stats to be better.
“I want to be fitter and stronger. In that sense, I’d be pretty similar in terms of my career as well. I have this kind of drive for progress. I suppose that that’s kind of my key motivation in the now.”
‘100 percent, I do want to play for Ireland some day’ states Williams
The League of Ireland has born a number of huge talents between the sticks, both recent and historic. No Irish goalkeeper is held in higher esteem than record caps holder, Emma Byrne who began her career with St Patricks Athletic. At the opposite end of the spectrum of experience, you have talented keepers like Katie Keane, now at Leicester who came through at Athlone Town and is just now starting out.
The Waterford number one finds herself in a sweet spot, still young, while playing consistent football. No doubt, Maeve Williams will be in and around the Irish senior squad before long, but how does she feel about the prospect?
“In terms of international aspirations, 100 percent, I do want to play for Ireland some day” Williams affirmed.
“I think everybody does or I think everybody should want to play for Ireland someday. Yeah, I probably was a little bit of a late developer in terms of learning my trade.
“I played football from a really young age, but in terms of passing up to everybody’s skill level. That probably didn’t happen for me until it would have been… when I was involved in the under 17s, under 19s.
“I would have been involved in the 15s and 16s but I think in terms of skill development and technical development that came for me kind of at the 17s and we started to get higher level coaches.
“And so I think for now I want to develop my game, and I want to get to a point where I can stand up and compete for a place there. Honestly I don’t think I’ve had that yet, I’d like to get that someday.
“I’ve got the date that I made my underage debut tattooed on my right arm, so I’m leaving a blank space there on the back of my left arm for my [senior] international debut.”
‘I love leading this group’ relishes Waterford captain Maeve Williams
At 23-years old Williams is younger than the conventional captain but it quickly became apparent when speaking to her, why she has been given that responsibility by head coach Gary Hunt.
Hunt signed Williams in January last year and the keeper hasn’t looked back since,
“Yeah, it’s amazing” Williams reflected on the move to Waterford.
“I’ve been a Waterford fan my whole life and it’s so good being up near my family. So last year was a massive deal and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.
“I suppose I never really imagined that the season would go as it did for me personally. Obviously, I ended up wearing the arm band for most of the season and took over the captaincy once Danielle Griffin left us.
“So that was just something that was amazing” Williams says as a smile draws across her face.
“[It was] probably not a position that I ever saw myself in before. But I suppose when I found myself in this situation, I was delighted to take it on.
“I love leading this group, and I love the program. Yeah, it’s great to be able to represent the club and lead the girls out. It’s a really nice feeling to be at the head of the walk out party.”
Part of those responsibilities as captain entail more media duties and Williams attended the League of Ireland media launch last month,
“I love that stuff” Williams laughed.
“That was my first one now but I really enjoyed the day. It was nice to catch up with a few other teams, I suppose to kind of get our voice heard a bit as well, get our face out there.”
Being able to ‘adapt’ key to modern goalkeeping says Maeve Williams
So much of the talk around goalkeeping in recent times has been in relation to the modern goalkeeper. With more and more asked of goalkeepers now, The Halfway Line asked Williams if she considers herself a modern goalkeeper,
“Yeah, I would think so” Williams admitted.
“I probably came through academy level, at a good time when goalkeepers are paid a bit more attention to. I’ve been lucky in the sense that I’ve pretty much always had a goalkeeping coach ever since I’ve stepped into academy football.
“I’ve never been without a coach that is there to specifically to develop me. So I’ve definitely picked up different attributes and skills along the way with different coaches.
“I think that in terms of that modern goalkeeper style, I’m trying to adapt all the time to what I need to be doing. At clubs I’ve played with previously, I probably would have had more to do with my feet and getting involved with our passing in the game, whereas I would have had more defensive duties to do last season, just with the nature of how our season went.
“But I suppose it’s about adapting and being able to contribute to the game in every aspect and to use the right attributes at the right times. I suppose my longer passing would have been utilized quite a lot last year just with the type of play that we had.
“I would class myself a modern goalkeeper, because I would hope that I would be able to adapt to the game that I’m playing and the team that I’m playing with.”
‘I went and did my UEFA goalkeeping badges’ explains Williams
Maeve Williams is a holistic footballer if ever there was one, it is evident too that she is a dedicated student of the game. A valuable asset for any side, Williams explained to The Halfway Line about her life off the football pitch and how that relates to life on it,
“When I was 18 or 19, I had the opportunity to go work at the FAI” Williams explained.
“I worked with the International Goalkeepers Academy, the girls under 15s and the girls under 16s, which was a brilliant experience for me.
“I went and did my UEFA goalkeeping badges, getting more brilliant experience, and really it’s probably expanded my own knowledge in the game too, as a player.
“At the moment, [I’m] fully focused on myself as a player. I graduated so I actually went in studying Sports Business and Coaching, but I actually came out with a degree in Management Practice.
“I specialized in year four and found myself just really interested in the management of the market as we kind of progressed through third year and fourth year. So that’s what I specialized in. College opened my eyes to how to work in the sporting industry and it not be on the pitch.
“There’s so much in the game that a lot of people don’t see. There’s parts that fans don’t see, the parts that players don’t see, the parts the owners don’t see. And I think I’m kind of a bit drawn to the part that nobody sees” Williams admits with a smile.
“I’m little bit drawn to those, that other people aren’t. I actually worked with Waterford FC for about eight months in 2024 just as part of my University placement.
“I did my placement with the club in a commercial aspect and stayed on there, worked for the club in the club’s backroom area. So [it is interesting] how much you can do in football outside the pitch. I’m really interested in that industry, the industry of professional sport is really interesting.”
‘There was a real roar!’ Williams reflects on penalty heroics
Waterford’s first home match ever in the League of Ireland came against the titans of the league in Shelbourne. Maeve Williams saved not one, but two penalties in the match even if the Blues went onto lose,
“Yeah, I suppose it’s really bittersweet when I look back at that game” Williams thoughtfully reflected.
“Because I had a couple of really high moments personally, obviously the result then dampens that.
“Look the first penalty save, I think that’s, as a goalkeeper, you know, it’s like scoring a goal, making a penalty save. And in a game like that where you’re under the underdog, and the odds are kind of stacked against ya!
“In the RSC field in front of a home crowd, we had a massive crowd at that game. There was a real roar at that time. To be honest it was a great feeling, it’s probably something that you visualize before.
“We gave away three penalties that day. Unfortunately, the analysis didn’t stack up to all three, but that’s a massive part of the game preparing for situations like that, for different kind of behaviours, different people stepping up.
“I think those are things that are within your control, that you do off the pitch to help yourself at times like those, actually a really simple things, but I suppose that day it helped us quite a bit.
“Helped score line quite a bit, yeah, bittersweet looking back at the result. But from a personal level I had great times in that game, it puts a smile on my face there thinking about it as I had all the family there watching, so.”
Waterford start their season at home to Maeve Williams’ former club Wexford FC on 14th March 2026 at 3pm.
Make sure to catch all the action in the Women’s Premier Division this season on TG4 and LOITV.
