Áine O'Gorman


Áine Marie O'Gorman is an Irish footballer who plays for Women's National League club Peamount United. A winger or forward, O'Gorman previously played for UCD Waves and also spent two seasons with the English FA WSL club Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2011 and 2012.

Club career

O'Gorman played club football for Stella Maris, while attending sports scholarships at Sallynoggin College and IT Carlow. She was named in an Irish Colleges team which travelled to Scotland for two friendly matches in April 2009. She was also selected to represent Leinster, helping them to the 2009 interprovincial title. Having switched to Peamount United, O'Gorman struck a hat-trick in the 2010 FAI Women's Cup final, as Peamount beat Salthill Devon 4–2 at Tolka Park.
O'Gorman also played Gaelic football for Bray Emmets and in September 2010 helped the club win the Wicklow Ladies Senior Football Championship, scoring four goals and two points in the final.
She signed for FA WSL club Doncaster Rovers Belles in October 2010, after a successful trial. O'Gorman was given accommodation at the Ramada Jarvis hotel in Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, with other signings Kylla Sjoman and Maria Karlsson. She made her debut in Doncaster's 1–0 FA Women's Cup win at Chelsea in March 2011.
O'Gorman found the standard of play in England higher than she had been used to, and admitted to some disappointment with her first season total of four goals. Despite this, her hard working style had endeared her to the South Yorkshire club's supporters. At the end of the 2011 FA WSL season she returned to Peamount on loan ahead of the Irish club's 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain.
Although she was increasingly tired of living in a hotel, O'Gorman returned to Doncaster Rovers Belles for the 2012 FA WSL season. She was happy to be joined by Julie-Ann Russell who also signed. In September 2012 she marked her final game for the club with a 35-yard lob in The Belles' 3–2 defeat at title-winning Arsenal.
In October 2013, O'Gorman provided an assist for Stephanie Roche to score a celebrated goal in Peamount's win over Wexford Youths. Roche's goal eventually finished second in the FIFA Puskás Award, after it went viral on YouTube. O'Gorman joked that her pass had given Roche "a lot of work to do".
When popular Peamount manager Eileen Gleeson left for UCD Waves in 2014, O'Gorman was one of several Peamount players to follow Gleeson to her new club. She secured the 2014–15 Golden Boot when rival striker Katie McCabe's club Raheny United received a walkover in their final fixture at Cork City, who failed to muster a team. O'Gorman had already been named the WNL Player of the Season. In 2015–16, O'Gorman struck 17 goals to retain her Golden Boot title. She was also one of three nominees for Player of the Season, but lost out to UCD teammate Karen Duggan.
In December 2017, club captain O'Gorman left UCD to return to Peamount United. She declared: "I want to be successful and I want to win trophies. I want to be part of a good set-up and I think Peamount has the ingredients to be very successful."

International career

O'Gorman was capped by the Republic of Ireland at U-17 and U-19 level. She was called-up to the senior panel for the 2006 Algarve Cup and made her debut in Ireland's final match at the tournament: a 4–0 defeat by Denmark in Lagoa. She became established in the senior team as a 16-year-old and featured in Ireland's subsequent qualifying campaigns. When signing for Doncaster aged 21 in October 2010, O'Gorman had accrued 38 senior caps.
In September 2012, O'Gorman reached a half century of appearances for Ireland, in a 2–0 EURO 2013 qualifying win over Israel at Ramat Gan Stadium. National team coach Susan Ronan experimented by deploying versatile O'Gorman as a right-back during the team's unsuccessful 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign. She continued to play further forward at club level: "I am happy to play right-back if I’m asked by Sue Ronan with the national team but I see myself as a striker".
In May 2015, O'Gorman captained Ireland for the first time, in a daunting friendly away to world champions the United States. After the match had been arranged, it was discovered to be outside FIFA's designated dates for international matches, so regular captain Emma Byrne was not released by her English club Arsenal. Ireland took credit from their 3–0 defeat, with O'Gorman an "able marshall" in defence. In June 2016 O'Gorman scored a hat-trick in Ireland's 9–0 win over Montenegro.
In April 2017, O'Gorman was among a delegation of 13 players who secured substantially improved working conditions for Ireland's female national team players, following a protracted dispute with the Football Association of Ireland. O'Gorman collected her 100th cap in a 1–0 defeat by Norway in Stavanger, which eliminated Ireland from 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification. The match proved to be O'Gorman's last in Ireland's colours, as she announced her retirement from international football in September 2018. On 5 March 2020, O'Gorman returned to international football, playing in a 1–0 win against Greece.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
12 February 2008John Hyland Park, Baldonnel, Dublin4–1Friendly1
212 March 2008Arsenio Catuna Complex, Guia2–22008 Algarve Cup1
322 September 2011Turners Cross, Cork1–32013 UEFA Women's Championship Qual.1
47 March 2012Estádio Municipal de Quarteira, Quarteira2–12012 Algarve Cup1
58 March 2013Tasos Markou, Paralimni1–02013 Cyprus Cup1
630 October 2013Ob Jezeru City Stadium, Velenje3–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup Qual.1
75 March 2014Tasos Markou, Paralimni1–12014 Cyprus Cup1
827 October 2015Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas, Moreira de Cónegos2–12017 UEFA Women's Championship Qual.1
97 April 2016Stadion pod Malim brdom, Petrovac5–02017 UEFA Women's Championship Qual.1
127 June 2016Tallaght Stadium, Dublin9–02017 UEFA Women's Championship Qual.3

Personal life

In November 2015, O'Gorman was employed as a personal trainer and was engaging in charity fundraising.