MARISSA and Rachel will always be remembered, but the most famous name in Northern Ireland women’s football will perhaps forever be that of a man – Kenny.
The players themselves, led by captain Marissa Callaghan, have repeatedly acknowledged that manager Kenny Shiels was the main reason why they qualified for last summer’s Euros, the first major tournament at which NI competed.
The Maghera man has now left that role, after almost four years in charge, having elevated the game to unprecedented levels.
His son Dean, the Dungannon Swifts manager, has been assisting him as coach, and could be contender to succeed his father.
Whoever comes in will have a hard act to follow, but Shiels has also left an improved squad with a much higher profile.
There’s no hyperbole in praising Shiels. He set his sights high, raised standards, and, most importantly, brought the players along with him to the bigger stages.
Those included Wembley and Windsor Park, and an attendance of more than 30,000, although admittedly the draw at the St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton was mostly the opposition, England’s Lionesses, who went on to win those Euros.
The 66-year-old was caught up in controversy after the World Cup qualifier against England at Windsor Park last April when he talked about female footballers being “more emotional” than men – however, his players took no offence, and backed him unreservedly.
Shiels’s first competitive match, in August 2019, ended in a 6-0 loss at home to Norway, with a couple of those goals conceded because of the team playing out from the back.
However, he stuck to his guns, stuck with that style of play, and results improved immensely, including shocking Ukraine with a 4-1 aggregate victory in the two-legged play-off to qualify for the Euros.
Under Shiels’s guidance Rachel Furness became Northern Ireland’s leading international goal-scorer, overtaking David Healy, and Shiels has built for the future by bringing many young players into the senior set-up.
Fittingly, his last match in charge was a 1-0 friendly win over Italy, at Seaview, which has become the home of Northern Ireland women's football.
The man himself said: “I have enjoyed my time as senior women’s manager immensely. I have worked hard with the players to raise their expectations and change their style of play so that we were a team to be reckoned with.
“This success has generated record attendance figures at senior women’s games and I was delighted to see so many of the Green and White Army travel to England to cheer us on last summer at the Euros.
“I want to thank everyone who has backed me, and the team, during my time as manager.”
Irish FA CEO Patrick Nelson said: "Kenny's impact on the women's and girls' game in Northern Ireland has been transformative. Securing that historic qualification to the Euros is forever etched in Irish FA history.
"We thank Kenny for his contribution to this and the success of the senior women's team in recent years."
Irish FA President Conrad Kirkwood said: "There have been some wonderful achievements for the senior women's team under Kenny's stewardship. We thank him for this and wish him the best for the future."
Shiels joined the association in 2019 and guided the senior women's team to a first ever major tournament, UEFA Women's Euro 2022, following a two-legged play-off win over Ukraine in April 2021.
As a player he represented clubs such as Coleraine, Distillery and Ballymena United in the Irish League before turning his hand to management. His coaching career has taken him to clubs as diverse as Carrick Rangers, Moyola Park and BEC Tero Sasana in Thailand. And as Northern Ireland senior women's team manager he enjoyed unprecedented levels of success.
