Like Grealish and Rice, the loss of Mary Fowler may pain Ireland
As much as Ireland fans lament the loss of Jack Grealish and Declan Rice, the impact of Mary Fowler slipping through their grasp to Australia may be there for the world to see tonight.
The three Fowler siblings, Ciara, Quivi and Mary, were all involved in FAI camps during their formative years but only the latter didn’t feature in an international match.
She’s stuffed plenty into a life that only left its teens in February, making her senior Matildas debut at 15, moving to France alone for a stint at Montpellier before joining Manchester City. She overshadowed captain Sam Kerr last Friday by replacing her against France and drilling home the winner in a friendly.
Mary spent a couple of years living in Dublin, attending school in Ballymun where her father was born and her granddad, also named Kevin, remains a resident.
Irish schools’ coaches spotted her talent and Colin Bell recognised the grounds for real potential.
He’s also at the World Cup, only in charge of South Korea rather than Ireland. He quit as boss in the summer of 2019 as the financial and governance issues smothered the organisation and he was offered the assistant coach’s vacancy at Huddersfield Town, then a Premier League club.
Watching Mary play against his Korean team in their 2-1 Asian Cup victory over the Matildas 18 months ago brought Bell’s mind back to a meeting in the Citywest Hotel ahead of his final game at the helm.
“I capped Ciara when managing Ireland’s U17s but also had Mary in our FAI home-based training sessions,” explained the Englishman.
Mary Fowler playing for Homefarm in Dublin, Ireland 6 years ago! The most talented footballer I’ve ever seen boy or girl. Was destined to be a star! What could have been…! #FIFAWomensWorldCup #AUSIRL
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