Gleeson appointed interim Republic of Ireland boss in wake of Pauw exit

Eileen Gleeson has been appointed interim boss of the Republic of Ireland team.

Currently FAI Head of Women and Girls' Football, she was previously assistant coach to the now former head coach Vera Pauw and will now lead the team temporarily as the recruitment process begins.

Ireland will host Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 23 September before travelling to Budapest to take on Hungary on three days later in their opening League B games.

Pauw's reign is over after the FAI decided not to offer the Dutch woman a new contract.

Her latest deal expires at the end of the month, and while she was hopeful of staying on for the upcoming UEFA Nations League games and subsequent Euro 2025 qualifiers, the association has chosen to go in a new direction.

The FAI board met on Tuesday to discuss a full report on the team's World Cup qualification campaign and the tournament itself. Afterwards, they came to a decision to part company with the 60-year-old.

In a brief statement issued by Irish football's governing body last night, chief executive Jonathan Hill said: "On behalf of the Football Association of Ireland, we would like to thank Vera for her hard work and commitment over the past four years and wish her well for the future.

"In particular, I wish to acknowledge the role she played in leading Ireland to the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 where our women's team made history and inspired a nation.

"The future is bright for women and girls’ football and our focus now is building upon the work done by Vera and the historic achievements of our women’s team, which we see as a platform to support the next phase of the journey for the team, and more broadly the development of women and girls’ football in this country."