Athlone Town's Dana Scheriff desperate to get Irish citizenship and play for WNT

American-born Dana Scheriff has expressed a strong desire to get her Irish passport and play for Ireland on an international level. 

The striker helped Athlone Town to an FAI Cup final victory against Shelbourne last month where she scored both in regulation and the penalty shootout. 

The FAI Cup was the cherry on top of a fantastic season for Sheriff who also claimed the EVOKE.ie Golden Boot for top goalscorer in the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division.

John Fallon caught up with the 25-year-old American sharpshooter recently to discuss her Irish heritage and potential future with the Irish WNT.

"My grandmother was born in Dublin. I never met her. She moved to England so my mother was raised in England. I do have a British passport, that was very easy to obtain. When I came over to Ireland I found out my grandmother was born in Ireland and thought this was something I wanted and would help me progress as a footballer. 

"That was only this year I started to work on getting all the documents. I never met her so I’m not familiar with her family and her side, but I am pretty eager to get that"

When asked about what it would mean to play for the Irish national side Scheriff had the perfect response: "I think that would be big for me. Playing for a national team is something that every player dreams of. The more I live in Ireland the more I feel it and love it and the more I want to learn about my roots and where my grandma is from and all her family.

"Over this past year, with the support I’ve had here and the successes I’ve had here, I just think it’s kind of what lit the spark to say, maybe you can do something like that. I love Ireland as a country, the people and the culture, it has completely taken me in and I