Katie McCabe

Irish footballer (born 1995) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Katie McCabe

Katie Alison McCabe (born 21 September 1995) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for English Women's Super League club Arsenal[2] and captains the Republic of Ireland women's national team. Mainly a left back,[3][4] she can also operate as a left winger[5] and a left midfielder.[6]

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...
Katie McCabe
Thumb
Katie McCabe vs Wolfsburg at the Emirates in 2023
Personal information
Full name Katie Alison McCabe[1]
Date of birth (1995-09-21) 21 September 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Kilnamanagh, Dublin, Ireland
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s) Winger, forward, full-back, wing-back
Team information
Current team
Arsenal
Number 11
Youth career
Templeogue United
St Francis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2015 Raheny United 41 (37)
2015 Shelbourne 3 (3)
2015– Arsenal 157 (23)
2017Glasgow City (loan) 11 (4)
International career
2010–2012 Republic of Ireland U17 9 (2)
2012–2014 Republic of Ireland U19 15 (8)
2015– Republic of Ireland 96 (29)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 April 2025
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 April 2025
Close

As a teenager, McCabe won the Irish Women's National League title twice and the FAI Women's Cup three times with Raheny United before signing with Arsenal in 2015. With Arsenal, she has won the FA Cup in 2016, the 2018–19 WSL, three League Cups, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2021. During her short loan to Glasgow City in 2017 she also won the SWPL.

After earning her first Ireland cap in 2015, she was named the country's captain in 2017, the youngest captain in the history of the team, and named as Ireland Women's Player of the Year in 2021. In 2023, The Guardian has described McCabe as "the undoubted face of Irish women's football"[7] and the Irish Times named her Sportswoman of the Year.[8] She won Irelands 2023 international goal of the year for her olimpico goal against Canada in the 2023 Women's World Cup[9]

In 2023, McCabe made history as the first Irish woman nominated for the renowned women’s Ballon d’Or award.[10] She is the first Irish player nominated since Roy Keane’s nomination in 2000. [11]

Club career

Summarize
Perspective
Thumb
McCabe with Arsenal in 2019

Youth career

Growing up, McCabe played on boys' youth teams for Kilnamanagh AFC and Crumlin United F.C. At the age of 10, she joined her first girls' team in Templeogue, playing for both the girls' team and the boys' team until she turned 13. Her favourite player as a child was Damien Duff.[12] During secondary school, she also played Gaelic football and basketball.[13]

Women's National League: 2011–2015

When the Women's National League (WNL) was formed in 2011, McCabe signed with Raheny United. She had previously trained with the club, but league regulations prevented her from signing a contract until she turned 16. She represented the club in the competition's first season. Over the next three seasons she won two league titles and three consecutive FAI Women's Cups with "The Pandas". She also represented the club in the UEFA Women's Champions League.[14]

She missed four months of the 2013–14 season with a broken leg.[15] Despite spending a majority of the season sidelined due to injury she still won the WNL Young Player of the Year award. That year, she had also been recruited by Florida State University to play for the Florida State Seminoles women's soccer team in the United States, but the move collapsed due to her injury.[16]

In 2014–15 McCabe scored 23 WNL goals for Raheny, two behind top scorer Áine O'Gorman of UCD Waves.[17] In November 2014, she scored the opening goal for Raheny in the FAI Women's Cup final, from a 35-yard free kick, winning her second FAI Cup with the club.[18] She clinched the last minute winner for the 2015 WNL cup in extra time, defeating Peamount United 3-2.[19] Her performance in the 2014-15 season landed her a spot on the WNL Team of the Season for the first time.[citation needed]

For the 2015–16 season, McCabe remained with the club in their new guise as Shelbourne Ladies.[citation needed]

Arsenal: 2015–2017

Thumb
McCabe making her Arsenal debut in February 2016

In December 2015 she signed for London club Arsenal,[20] rejecting competing offers from Glasgow City, Chelsea, and Manchester City.[21]

Glasgow City: 2017 (loan)

After struggling with injuries and a lot of first-team playing time in her first year with Arsenal, she joined Glasgow City on loan in August 2017, for the second half of the Scottish Women's Premier League season.[22] She would help lead Glasgow City to the Scottish title as well as making a handful of appearances in the UEFA Champions League.[23]

Return to Arsenal: 2017–present

Upon returning to Arsenal at the end of her loan, new Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro shifted her to the left-full-back position.[24]

In the 2018–19 season, McCabe helped lead Arsenal to the FA WSL title, playing the most minutes of any player in the squad.[25] On 26 March 2019, she signed an extension with Arsenal.[26] Five days later, in one of the last matches of the year, she scored a crucial game-winning goal against Birmingham, keeping Arsenal one point clear on top of the league table.[27]

McCabe scored 5 goals and picked up 12 assists during the 2020–21 FA WSL season as Arsenal finished third. She tied for first in the league for assists and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.[28] In December 2020, she made her 100th appearance for Arsenal in a 4-0 victory over Everton, assisting a Jen Beattie goal from the corner.[29][30] Later that month, McCabe was involved in a COVID-19-related controversy after posting a picture of herself on a beach in Dubai despite a travel ban for Tier 4 residents in London. She stated that she had gone to Dubai for a business meeting with her agent.[31] She did not receive any disciplinary sanctions from the FA for the controversy.[32]

Ahead of the 2021–22 FA WSL season, McCabe signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.[33]

McCabe won Goal of the 2022–23 Season for her game winning strike against Manchester City.[34] On 20 June 2023, McCabe was announced as the Arsenal Women Player of the Season.[35]

On 29 September 2023, McCabe signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.[36] She made her 200th appearance for the Gunners against Manchester City on 5 November 2023.[37]

While playing against Chelsea in her 250th game for Arsenal on 26 January 2025, McCabe received a red card for dissent, the second of her career and resulted in a two match ban.[38] McCabe won the club-wide goal of the month for March 2025.[39]

International career

Summarize
Perspective

At the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship, McCabe featured as Ireland won their group,[40] before crashing 4–0 to a Vivianne Miedema-inspired Netherlands in the semi-final.

In March 2015 national coach Susan Ronan gave McCabe a senior debut against Hungary at the 2015 Istria Cup, a 1–1 draw. A quad injury kept McCabe out of Ireland's 3–0 UEFA Euro 2017 qualifying defeat by Spain on 26 November 2015 at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin.[41] At the 2016 Cyprus Cup, McCabe scored her first international goal to secure a 1–1 draw with Italy.[42]

McCabe featured in Ronan's squad for the UEFA Euro qualifying stage, making seven appearances in total.[43] In August 2017, new national team coach Colin Bell appointed 21-year-old McCabe as the Ireland captain, the youngest captain in the history of the team.[44]

In April 2021, she earned her 50th cap for Ireland against Belgium.[45][46] In September 2021, the FAI announced that it would implement equal pay for its men's and women's national teams, after negotiations led by McCabe and men's captain Séamus Coleman.[47][48]

McCabe and manager Vera Pauw led Ireland to qualify for the 2023 FIFA World Cup, the first major tournament appearance in the team's history.[49] On 26 July 2023 she scored an Olympico goal in their group stage match against Canada, becoming her country's first-ever goal-scorer at the Women's World Cup.[50] This goal won the 2023 Ireland international goal of the year. Ireland was ultimately defeated by Canada 2–1, eliminating them from the tournament. McCabe said she was saddened by the result, but added that "this is our first ever major tournament and I know for a fact, given those performances we put in, it won't be our last."[51]

Mccabe captained the Irish team, during the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifiers. Advancing to the playoffs, they took a win over Georgia, with a 6-0 victory in the opening leg.[52] They were eventually knocked out by Wales.[citation needed]

Personal life

McCabe has 10 siblings, six sisters and four brothers, and was raised in Kilnamanagh.[53] Her siblings include Gary McCabe, who played in the League of Ireland Premier Division from 2007 to 2018, and Lauryn McCabe, currently playing for Bohemian and Ireland Under-16.[54][55]

She is openly lesbian.[56][57] In June 2019, McCabe revealed she was in a relationship with fellow Irish footballer Ruesha Littlejohn, and that women's football is very accepting of LGBT people.[58] The couple split in May 2023.[59] McCabe is currently in a relationship with Arsenal teammate and Australian international, Caitlin Foord.[60][61]

While playing in the Irish Women's National League, McCabe worked as a grill coordinator at a Nando's restaurant in Tallaght.[62]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 April 2025[63]
More information Club, Season ...
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Raheny United 2011–12 WNL 1250000125
2012–13 1331112156
2013–14 56213010117
2014–15 11231124201628
2015–16 3311002064
Total 44405466506050
Glasgow City 2017 SWPL 1143320167
Total 11 4 3 3 2 0 16 7
Arsenal 2016 FA WSL 1000010110
2017 302151
2017–18 1125010172
2018–19 20520752910
2019–20 130317340274
2020–21 2142130265
2021–22 2057110120406
2022–23 2132030120383
2023–24 213207020323
2024–25 1712021140352
Total 1572327432944026036
Career total 212673511381551033693
Close

International

As of match played 4 April 2025
More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 2015 6 0
2016 11 3
2017 10 1
2018 8 3
2019 8 3
2020 5 2
2021 9 3
2022 10 5
2023 15 6
2024 11 3
2025 3 0
Total9629
Close
As of 29 October 2024
Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goals first. Score column indicates score after each McCabe goal.
More information No., Cap ...
International goals scored by Katie McCabe
No. Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 10 4 March 2016GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus  Italy 1–1 1–1 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup [64]
2 18 21 August 2016 Rodney Parade, Newport, Wales  Wales 1–1 2–1 Friendly [65]
3 2–1
4 22 6 March 2017 Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus  Wales 1–0 1–0 2017 Cyprus Women's Cup [66]
5 31 21 January 2018 Estádio de São Miguel, Ponta Delgada, Portugal  Portugal 1–0 3–1 Friendly [67]
6 36 31 August 2018 Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Northern Ireland 2–0 4–0 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [68]
7 4–0
8 41 9 April 2019Mapei Stadium, Reggio Emilia, Italy  Italy 1–0 1–2 Friendly [69]
9 43 3 September 2019 Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Montenegro 2–0 2–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying [70]
10 44 8 October 2019  Ukraine 1–0 3–2 [71]
11 47 11 March 2020Stadion pod Malim brdom, Petrovac, Montenegro  Montenegro 2–0 3–0 [72]
12 50 1 December 2020 Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Germany 1–2 1–3 [73]
13 58 25 November 2021 Slovakia 1–1 1–1 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [74]
14 59 30 November 2021  Georgia 6–0 11–0 [75]
15 7–0
16 63 12 April 2022 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Sweden 1–0 1–1 [76]
17 65 27 June 2022 Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium, Gori, Georgia  Georgia 1–0 9–0 [77]
18 4–0
19 7–0
20 69 14 November 2022Marbella Football Center, San Pedro Alcántara, Spain  Morocco 2–0 4–0 Friendly [78]
21 75 26 July 2023Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth, Australia  Canada 1–0 1–2 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup [79]
22 78 26 September 2023Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest, Hungary  Hungary 2–0 4–0 2023–24 UEFA Nations League [80]
23 79 27 October 2023 Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Albania 1–0 5–1 [81]
24 2–1
25 5–1
26 82 5 December 2023Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 4–0 6–1 [82]
27 90 25 October 2024 Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia  Georgia 1–0 6–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs [83]
28 3–0
29 91 29 October 2024 Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 3–0 3–0 [84]
Close

Honours

Summarize
Perspective

Raheny United[citation needed]

Arsenal[citation needed]

Glasgow City

Individual

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.