Katie McCabe praised her senior men’s counter part, Ireland captain Séamus Coleman for being an ‘amazing person’ as the 37 year old vowed to play on recently.

McCabe was speaking ahead of a huge FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying match for Ireland where they will face Netherlands in Cork. If McCabe can help Ireland conjure up three points it will set up a final day showdown against France.

The Ireland captain joined head coach Carla Ward and spoke to the media ahead of the Ireland vs Netherlands match and The Halfway Line was present to hear from her.

Katie McCabe was keen to stay in the ‘best league in the world’

On everyone’s lips this week has been McCabe’s move to Chelsea, a story that has grabbed all the headlines. McCabe clarified if she had ever seriously considered a move abroad to the NWSL or France,

“No, for me, I think I wanted to compete in the WSL” McCabe confirmed. “It’s the best league in the world in my opinion, and I think you’ve seen that with how attractive it is with top, top players coming in from all over the world, and wanting to play there.

“So, yeah, for me, I want to compete within the WSL, compete for trophies and the Champions League again, and Chelsea were the perfect fit for that.”

McCabe was asked to clarify if talks had begun between her and Chelsea before the second leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League clash. The match that Sonia Bompastor was sent off after protesting in favour of McCabe’s dismissal,

“I think I had, yeah” McCabe said. When asked if it complicated things for her at all, she replied,

“No. Well” McCabe paused for a second to consider before concluding, “yeah, no, it didn’t.”

McCabe ‘in a good place mentally’ despite online abuse

The move to Chelsea has not been without its drawbacks. While some amount of criticism and vocal displeasure from Arsenal fans is understandable, abuse is not. At times in the past week, regrettably, that line has been crossed.

McCabe’s family spoke out against the abuse, in particular her mother. That was put to McCabe,

“Yeah, I think for any parent using social media, seeing a lot of abuse being thrown their child’s way is difficult to see” said McCabe. “I think, yeah, this is the first, obviously, kind of probably big announcement of my career, leaving a massive football club to go to another big football club, so yeah, it’s new territory.

“But for me, I’ve stayed off social media this week because my full concentration has been on these games, and tomorrow night. I’ve got a lot of support in Carla [Ward], my teammates, and the staff as well here at Ireland.

“So I’m in a good place mentally. I don’t condone any abuse. I don’t think that’s obviously the way forward when these things happen, because it is football.

“People are humans at the end of the day, and have feelings, but yeah, I guess my way of dealing with it is removing myself and staying away from it.”

McCabe reflects her ‘admiration’ for Seamus Coleman

Another full back who is currently captaining an Irish senior side is Séamus Coleman. McCabe was asked if she was hoping to be playing up to the age of 37 as Coleman is now,

“Yeah, I hope so” Katie McCabe smiled. “I feel good. I’ve got a lot of admiration for Seamus, and he’s such a amazing person.

“He’s always been fully supportive of what we’re trying to do here and what we’re trying to create with the women’s team and helping us off the pitch as well. So to see him still going, he looks good! He’s in good nick! So yeah, would love to be like Séamus one day, for sure.”

You can still purchase tickets for Ireland vs Netherlands tonight, which kicks off at 19:30pm.