This interview by Chris O’Mahony was first published in issues 3 & 4 of City Edition.
Cork City finished the 2020 season with an appearance in the FAI Women’s Cup Final and despite a competitive first half, City ended up losing by six goals to double champions Peamount United.
One of the major positives from that day was the performance of City’s full back Zara Foley who was rightly praised in many quarters for her outstanding performance. City also finished the season in fourth place, the highest finish since the inaugural season of the Women’s National League, with Foley a key figure in the team’s defence.
Despite being just eighteen years of age, Foley has been a mainstay in City’s defence over the past two years but admits the FAI Cup final gave her and her teammates plenty to work on.
“I was very disappointed with the result,” she reflected. “We were well in the game in the first half but I think we need to focus now on keeping that up for the full 90 minutes of games. It was such a learning curve because Peamount are a very good team and it was a big challenge for us. But if we can work towards getting the performance for the full 90 minutes we will be doing really well.
“I was happy with the way I performed myself and with the Irish management watching as well that’s probably a good thing for me but I was very disappointed not to win the game. We did do well to keep them scoreless for the first 45 minutes but their experience showed particularly after they got the first goal, they just kept coming at us.
The average age of City’s starting line up in their two WNL games so far this season is just 19.2 years of age, making them one of the youngest squads in the SSE Airtrcity Women’s National League, however Foley and her team mates are not prepared to use their youth as an excuse when it comes to competing in the league.
“We are very young as a squad, so we lack some of that experience that some other teams have but we are one of the teams that train most often in the league and that is standing to us,” she says. The coaches and players are putting in a lot of work and hopefully this season and over the next few seasons that work will pay off in matches.
“The atmosphere in the team is good and we are taking every match as it comes and focusing on getting a result. All the teams in the league have improved so that is another challenge that we have to step up to and keep working hard ourselves and try to get results throughout the season.
“As I said there is a great atmosphere and once you are relaxed as a player it makes a huge difference because there is nothing worse than being completely stressed and stuff and then you don’t perform well, so when you are in a good environment your performance elevates. It is definitely good to have a good staff doing that.
“We are hoping to move up the league and finish as one of the top teams in the league. There are obviously really good teams in the league but we would be hoping over time to be in the top three and then top two and even the top team.
Foley’s introduction to Cork City FC came via the clubs schoolgirl’s Academy which was launched in 2015. The majority of the club’s current players at under 17 and under 19 squad have come through this Academy while a number of the current women’s team also came through this pathway. Foley believes Cork City’s girl Academy can be very valuable for young players who are looking to get some extra high level training to supplement their club training.
“The Academy was great for me, I have some very good memories of going to the training sessions on Saturday mornings,” she said. “I do think it is great for players to go through the Academy set up. Obviously the local club’s in Cork are great for building up the key skills but once you get to a certain stage you have to look at how you can go up through the ranks and the Academy is brilliant for that. When I was in the Academy I was able to train and play with Lakewood and then train with the Academy as well, which was being run by Rónán Collins then, and by the nature of an academy you are training with better players and the pace of the session is faster so it improves everything in your game from passing to awareness and so on.
As well as football Foley has a great love of art and has decided to pursue that love in her academics over the next couple of years having completed her leaving certificate in Ballincollig Community School in 2020.
“I study Fine Art in Crawford Art College and there are a couple of times a year where it can be stressful to be playing and in college depending on what is happening in both especially with exams, but generally it is a nice combination,” she explained. “I don’t have long essays to write and stuff like that, it is more stuff that I love doing so it’s not too stressful and it doesn’t cause a lot of pressure.
“I love animation but I went into Fine Art to learn more techniques and things like that and hopefully in the future I will go on and do more animation and learn about the specific animation form but that won’t be for another while.
Eighteen year old Zara Foley has made herself an integral part of Cork City’s Women’s National League side over the past two years having graduated from the club’s schoolgirl’s Academy and now she is hoping that by continuing to perform for City and leading the club to more success she will be able to represent Ireland again in the near future.
As an elite sportsperson Foley has been able to train and play the game she loves throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, an opportunity she is greatly to have.
“I believe 100% that being able to play sport is very helpful to me” she said. “Staying inside all the time can be a bit overwhelming and it can get into your head but being able to take that hour or two out and being able to meet up with your teammates and being able to play makes a huge difference. It is amazing that we have the privilege to be able to go out and do that especially at the moment.”
Foley, who has been involved in a number of Irish senior squads, is hoping to add to her senior cap in the coming seasons and is prepared to put in the effort needed to compete at the highest level.
“I am hoping to get back in with the Irish senior team,” she says. I am in with the home-based training squad now, but I am hoping to get into the squad and then ideally the starting line-up. I know to be at that level it takes a big effort and I think it makes a big difference going out and doing some extra training by yourself and working on things that you need to improve on as well as the team training. Going training with the team is primarily to improve you playing on the team, but I do think you need to take some extra time for yourself and do things like watching games back on Hudl and see what you need to improve on and try to perfect them then out by yourself. I think strength and conditioning is a huge part too so there is a huge part to do for yourself.
“I would talk to Rónán (Collins) and get feedback and if I was with the international team the manager would speak with Rónán and he would then have a chat with me and tell me what I need to improve on and I will go away and work on them then. And to be fair the management would try to incorporate some of that stuff into training but I would also need to go and work on it myself.”
Not surprisingly Foley has fond memories of her time in the Irish squad and has been impressed with the team’s performances in recent games.
“The first time I got into the Irish senior squad was when we went to the Azores to take on Portugal, I was fifteen and the next camp after that was World Cup qualifiers home and away against Norway,” she says. I was hoping to get my senior cap in one of those and if I did, I would have been the youngest female player to play for the Irish Senior team but unfortunately, I didn’t.
“That October I did make my debut against Poland and I was sixteen. The first time I met up with the squad I was very young and going into a senior camp was incredible, I was star struck. The pace of the training games was so fast, and it was a great experience to play with and against such great players and to see how they operate.
“We lost 4-0 and I came on late in the game but the time I did get to be on the pitch for was unreal. To be able to play with and against such good players was a really great experience. I didn’t think I was going to go on at all. It kind of came out of nowhere, I was just warming up and I was relaxed because I didn’t think I was coming on which is probably a good thing because I didn’t have time to get nervous.
“I do get nervous before games if I’m honest but for me nerves are a good thing and I try to use them in a positive way but for that particular time and the game that it was, I think it might have been better that I didn’t know. After I went on, I realised what was after happening and obviously I was disappointed with the result, but I was so happy that I got to play.
Foley has been following the national team closely over the years and was impressed with what she saw in Ireland’s recent friendlies against Denmark and Belgium particularly as the team were trying out different formations and as with many observers, one particular player stood.
“I think they did very well and the performances were very good. Definitely the 3-5-2 is a formation I like because I am a wing back. I love defending but I love being able to get forward and join the attack but four at the back can also be great it gives different options for attacking. It’s good to see the international team trying out different formations and set ups and hopefully that could be good for me as I do see myself as being versatile as a player.
“I think Denise O’Sullivan is one of the best women’s players that we have ever had. Her skill is so good and just seeing her play football is unreal and if I could get up to that level, I would be deligheted. She is definitely a player I would like to be able to play like and play with more often in the future.
“I have been in squads with her and she is class to play against and she is so good to learn from and see the level that she is at.
“I would love to be able to combine playing soccer for Cork City with my art and I would love to be playing with Irish senior team as well. So, combining that level of playing soccer and with doing my art would be ideal.
Sign up for the Cork City FC Girls Underage Academy – https://www.cognitoforms.com/CorkCity1/CorkCityFCWomenUnderageAcademy2021
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