The story of the Irish WNT's first meeting with England in 1978

Analysis: A snowstorm delayed Ireland's first ever clash against England, but the message nearly didn't reach the team

By Helena Byrne, British Library

Tonight the Republic of Ireland WNT take on England in Norwich in front of a sold out crowd, in their fifth and penultimate Group A3 match in the UEFA EURO 2025 Qualifier. Although they have not taken any points away from the matches so far, the Girls in Green still have a shot at qualifying for UEFA EURO 2025 through the playoffs. England are currently ranked third (France superseded England last month) while the Republic of Ireland remains 25th in the FIFA Women's World Rankings. This is the ninth time that the sides have faced each other, but so far we haven’t beaten England, and have only managed to score one goal against them, at the first meeting in 1978.

In its inaugural year, the Republic of Ireland WNT played four international matches: one at home against Northern Ireland and three away against Wales, France and Northern Ireland in 1973. The following year they played Scotland, but it was not until 1978, almost five years since their first international match, that they faced our near neighbours, England.

There has always been a close connection with the football community in England as Dundalk Ladies were founding members of the Women's Football Association (WFA). So why did it take so long to organise a match between the two sides? We don't have all the answers to that as many of the people involved in organising these matches have passed away. Nevertheless, we can infer from the club matches that took place between the countries, as well as snippets of correspondence and documentation that has survived, as to why this might have been the case.

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