For goalkeeper and captain Rachael Kelly, it’s a fourth season between the sticks at Dalymount under a third management team.
Signed for the club by the two lads in the opposing dugout today, Seán Byrne and Pat Trehy, 23-year-old Rachael has excelled in the Bohemian goal making the ‘Team of the Season’ in 2022 and keeping a total of 7 league clean sheets last term. She has made over 70 league and FAI Cup appearances for the club since her year away playing in Sweden and has previously come up through the ranks at rivals Shelbourne.
With a strong pre-season behind them and a clutch of youthful new signings to add to the core of the squad from last season, it’s no surprise to find the perennial smiler upbeat and positive about the campaign to come despite a slightly disappointing opening day scoreless draw in The Showgrounds and a 3-1 defeat to Galway here at Dalymount last Saturday.
“We wanted to win in Sligo but we didn’t create enough down there. We knew we were going to get a tough game in the Showgrounds, it always is,” she says ruefully.
“We knew what to expect and we put the fact we beat them in a friendly earlier in pre-season out of our minds as it would count for nothing. We prepared well, did our analysis and had a game-plan going in that we would have hoped to execute better. Three points there was vital as it breeds confidence, but it’s gone now and we had to put it behind us immediately. We take the point and move off the starting line, but yes, the win was the aim, no point in saying anything else.
“We knew Galway were going to be tough too,” she continues. “They came so close to winning the league last year. They always come well prepared and have an extremely good work-rate. They had signed well and despite some outgoings have not lost any strength-in-depth. But we had a game plan and have plenty of our own strengths that we knew could give Galway problems.”
She continues, “We were really looking forward to it as it was our first home game, and it was disappointing to lose it. Galway had three chances and put each one away and that’s the difference with the top, top sides, I said it to the girls in the huddle afterwards. We have to take our chances. As a team, we have to demand more from ourselves now. We took the lead but it only lasted a couple of minutes and that’s something we’ve spoken about all this week.”
“We need to manage the game better once we get in front. We have to learn and do it very quickly! One positive is how well some of the young players like Emma Gaughran and Hannah Healy did against the highest quality opposition and on their full home débuts too! There’s a great pathway here for young talent at this club.
“In Sligo we didn’t create enough, whereas last week against Galway we didn’t put the chances away,” she adds.
“Look, it’ll come together and when it does it’ll be brilliant! If you go out in every game with the right attitude and work ethic, and with a good game-plan, you give yourself a chance in any match, so we know we have every chance today against Wexford.”
Rachael is excited by the squad Alban has put together and encouraged by how positive things have been over the preseason programme. Yes, it has yielded just the one point thus far, but Captain Kelly is certain that the right building blocks have been put in place.
“Pre-season was really positive,” she beams. “We came back in in January and this time we had a lot of new faces in from the very start which really makes a difference. It’s all about fitness and tactics but also bonding and gelling. We had a brilliant day out in Portmarnock doing a beach training session and we had a team night out as well.
“All of that really builds relationships and helps the new girls to know the squad and what the club is all about. As for the games, yes there were some good workouts, but the results don’t matter so much. We won all the matches, but it is more about the performances, and we took a lot of positives and building blocks from it.”
With a new manager at the helm and a new coaching ticket alongside him, it’s been a fresh start in many ways for the squad.
Rachael has been very impressed with Alban Hysa from the off and is keen to repay his faith in her with some good performances and clean sheets.
“From minute one after his appointment, Alban has communicated brilliantly. He called me straight away as captain and as a senior player to brief me on his plans,” she says.
“He has a lot of fresh ideas and has been around the league at senior and underage levels, but I’d personally never worked with him before. He’s been great for the group. It’s good to have some level of continuity too with Alan Murphy also still on board, we all really enjoyed Alan’s sessions last year. We have our little goalkeeping club too with Deego who has put in so much effort, he’s certainly a very committed guy and doesn’t do anything by halves!”
Alban has made some fine additions to an already promising squad, one of whom is Jenna Willoughby in goals to provide competition for Rachael’s place between the sticks.
“Jenna is a brilliant keeper,” Rachael agrees readily. “We’ve had a good few sessions together now to establish that special bond that I feel only goalkeepers have with each other! She is an underage international and she is in that team for a reason. It is great to have a quality keeper like her to push me on.”
“Jenna is ready for senior football if called upon, make no mistake about that, and she has done really, really well since she came in.”
Outfield, Alban has brought in a clutch of players that have also really excited our captain. Experienced heads like Mia Dodd returning to the fold and Róisín McGovern fresh from her years Stateside will add a healthy blend, Rachael feels, with all the other younger guns.
“It’s a great mix of experience and youth,” she says. “Mia Dodd is really enjoying her football since she came back, you can see it in her face, and she is at her best when her confidence is up. I have known Róisín McGovern a long, long time now and we were roommates together back in the day playing MGL football and Gaynor Cup. We were together in our Irish representative days too. I remember playing against her when she was at Enniskerry and I was at Shels, and we ended up winning the Gaynor Cup together with Róisín in front of me at centre-half. When I heard she was coming home from America I was really hoping she’d join us, so I was delighted when she arrived! She has a big presence and she’s a great personality to have around the team.”
“The younger players are a breath of fresh air as well,” she adds. “Alban has brought in some brilliant footballers and it’s an exciting time to be at Bohemians! Hannah Healy has settled well and really bought into everything about the club. Kate McCarn really loves the running in training! It’s been great to have all these new personalities, and everyone brings something different to the table. Sure if we were all the same life would be fierce boring wouldn’t it?! I see real depth in our squad and the competition will be intense. That’s as it should be, it’s pushed us on and made us think quicker too as you’re never too old to learn something new!”
Last season saw lots of breakout stars like Aoibhe Brennan, Savannah Kane and Emma Gaughran, all of whom played last Saturday against Galway, and Rachael feels sure that there may be a few more this campaign.
“Savannah and Aoibhe have a full year under their belt at this level,” she nods, “and that will really stand to them. They’re ready, they won’t take a backward step if they are asked to come in and do a job. They are great players and had a brilliant season last year and I’ve no doubt they are willing and able to step up even more this term. The likes of Leiagh Glennon who came on last week, Hannah O’Brien and Abbie Rooney to pick out only a few, are so enthusiastic as well as being quality players and Emma Gaughran is on a seriously fast learning curve having done brilliantly since she arrived.”
The sight of the mercurial Pat Trehy and Seán Byrne in the opposite dugout today and the galaxy of stars in the Wexford gansey means our visitors today will provide a stern test, that much Rachael is sure of.
“It will be great to see the lads back today alright,” she says, “I always say it, I’m very, very thankful to Seán and Pat as they were the ones who brought me to this club and believed in me. I was sad to see them go at the time, and I always said that they would be welcome back any time.”
“Pat and Seán built a great spirit here at Bohs and established the foundation from which the women’s section has grown and gone from strength to strength… and that doesn’t go unnoticed. We will get a very hard game from them and their Wexford players today. We know that they have some great experienced footballers who never give up and any of Pat and Seán’s team will be well set up!”
It promises to be the last season at Dalymount for a couple of years as the Old Lady of Phibsborough gets her long-awaited make-over, so Rachael and the girls are primed to enjoy it before perhaps the Oscar Traynor beckons for next term.
“I love Dalymount, we all do. I don’t have enough words to express how I feel about the place, the history it has, the murals, the great events that have been held here, including our own momentous night against Palestine last year. I guess the one word I’d pick would be ‘Historic’. When it’s gone, it’ll be different, that’s for sure, but we have to enjoy it as it is while we have it and of course look forward to what will be a state-of-the-art facility when it’s redeveloped. It will always be the home of Irish Football.”
The league has never before had so much exposure with more column inches, more social media awareness and crucially even more live games on TV. Bohs had the highest average crowds last season, but is it disappointing for the players that the coverage hasn’t always translated into numbers through the gates across the league?
“Of course it’s every girl’s dream to play in front of the biggest crowds we can,” she admits.
“We got a taste of that in the Palestine game and to be fair our home attendances have consistently been good. We have loyal fans who follow us home and away, we appreciate it, their loyalty is really second to none. However, it’s all about growing the league, pushing it on, driving it forward. It’s not a short-term thing either, it’s about the future so it is vital the people don’t lose heart if this or that initiative doesn’t work. What’s important is we keep trying to develop and grow the league. We need to inspire the younger girls as they are the future. I didn’t really have that as a kid, so I want to be part of making the young girls want to play at Dalyer when they’re older, to want to be part of this great league.”
And to close, here’s Rachael’s message to you supporters sitting here in Dalymount, reading these notes in the Jodi Stand.
“Buckle up,” she says with a grin that belies a steely determination. “It’s going to be a thrilling one! I’m really excited for what’s to come. From what I’ve seen from the squad so far, I think we have plenty to be confident about. We have a clear vision of where we want to be, what we want to be, and how we want to get there, so it is up to us to implement that vision now. There are plenty of games and points to play for so stick with us! Your support means the world to us and is a massive part of our journey. Also, a big shoutout to our matchday volunteers – you know who you are. They work so hard on matchdays and behind the scenes. There is incredible effort put in on our behalf and it doesn’t go unnoticed! Thanks a million and keep believing in us!”