Marissa Callaghan
Marissa Callaghan (born 2 September 1985) is a Northern Irish women's association football player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She currently plays as a player-coach as a midfielder for Cliftonville Ladies and is the captain of the Northern Ireland women's national football team.[1]
Nilla Fischer (Sweden) and Marissa Callaghan in May 2014 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 2 September 1985 | ||
Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
Youth career | |||
Newington Girls | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2005– | Cliftonville | ||
National team‡ | |||
2010– | Northern Ireland | 47 | (6) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 August 2019 (UTC) |
Football
Callaghan started playing football when she was thirteen for Newington Girls (now known as Cliftonville Ladies).[2] After this, she went to university in the United States on a football scholarship.[3] She returned to Northern Ireland in 2005 and started playing for Cliftonville again. She graduated with an advanced certificate in sports coaching from the University of Ulster in 2017.[3] As a result, she also volunteered as a coach for Cliftonville Ladies.[4] Later she became their academy director.[4]
International career
Callaghan made her international debut for the Northern Ireland women's national under-19 football team in 2002.[5] She made her debut for Northern Ireland in 2010.[5] In 2016, Callaghan was awarded the Northern Ireland Women's Football Association Women's Personality of the Year award.[2] A year later she was the tournament ambassador for the 2017 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship being held in Northern Ireland.[2]
Career
After leaving university, Callaghan started working full-time in 2010 as a women's football community coach.[1] In 2016, Callaghan was selected as a women's football ambassador for the Irish Football Association.[6] Following this, she worked with Northern Ireland national football team captain Steven Davis to promote participation in women's youth football.[7]
References
- "Football star Marissa Callaghan aims to inspire others". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- "2017 UEFA Women's European Championship official programme" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 2017-11-04. Cite journal requires
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(help) - "Ulster University graduate has her eye on the ball". University of Ulster. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- Johnny Morton (2017-07-10). "Marissa Callaghan looking to inspire the next generation after recent graduation". Belfast Live. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- FIFA Women's World Cup. "Marissa Callaghan". UEFA. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- "Women Ambassadors announced". Irish Football Association. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- Chris Sherrard (2017-05-31). "Northern Ireland football captains unite for Electric Ireland campaign". Belfast Live. Retrieved 2017-11-04.