Amber Barrett’s winner against Scotland in the World Cup qualification play-off game last October was clearly the most important goal in the history of Irish women’s football. However, we wouldn’t have been in the play-offs at all if a former England captain hadn’t played her part to the full.

Lily Agg captained the England Under-15s in a match against France. She was also capped at Under-17 and Under-19 levels. She may be just five feet five inches tall, but it was wonderfully executed header against Finland which brought a superb conclusion to Ireland’s topsy turvy qualifying campaign, taking them into the do-or-die qualifier against Scotland. The rest is history.

Agg’s debut for Ireland was in the warm-up friendly against the Philippines, in Turkey, the previous June. She scored that day too.

“You go to bed the night before and you can’t sleep,” the 29-year old recalls. “I didn’t expect to start against the Philippines, but I knew I had a good training camp and I was playing quite well. You’re hoping that maybe they’ve noticed and you can get a few minutes on the pitch, so to actually start was amazing.

“I also had to remember the role I was being given. For my club, I’m much more attacking. I believe I can score goals. But Vera sees me very much as the defensive player who’s going to win the ball for the team and press. So, I kind of have to remind myself not to go forward. So, when I found myself in the box and I scored, well…!

Lily Agg signs autographs on June 16th 2023.

“I remember afterwards, Vera said to me, ‘Lily, when you pass the ball, step backwards!’ and I remembered that I passed it and ran forwards! But overall, it was a good performance and I eased myself into it, played very safe for the first 10 to 15 minutes. I wanted to just calm myself down and grow my confidence. It was a steady first performance. To get a goal just topped it off, really.”

‘Follow that’, you might say, and she did with that historic goal v Finland. Is Lily Agg our ‘lucky penny’?

“I think the way Ireland play complements me as a player. When you have players around you that understand you, you get a connection and a vibe,” she says. “And even though I’ve been with Ireland a relatively short time, I feel I play my best football when I am away with Ireland. You train all week for this. You trust yourself, it’s second nature and don’t overthink it.

“I’m good in the air for someone who’s not very tall. I have a bit of a leap and I win every header for my team, so I managed a good header and it went in. I remember having goosebumps and thinking, ‘Oh my God, what has just happened?!’.”

Did the English players acknowledge the Brighton native’s goal for Ireland when she went back to her club?

“I have friends who play with England, players who know Katie McCabe, too. I got so many messages like, ‘I’m so proud of you’, ‘You deserve this’, ‘It’s your time to shine’. It’s such a nice feeling to get those messages.

“All the Irish girls have been incredible, making me feel part of the team. It means so much to me. The girls know that I put my body on the line for the team and that’s my personality. They’ve bought into me as a person. When I put the Ireland jersey on, it’s such a special feeling. I’m so grateful to be part of it.”

 

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PICKING THE BEST PLAYERS

Lily Agg qualifies for Ireland through her maternal grandmother, Breda Greene, from Cobh in Co. Cork. Lily’s love for her shines through indelibly  Breda died of cancer, at the age 60. Lily was just eleven at the time. Her grandmother used to visit the Brighton branch of the family and go to see Lily play soccer there.

“My mum’s life has not been the same without my grandma,” she admits. “My mum is my best friend, and my mum’s mum was her best friend. We were all so close. My mum ended up being a nurse like her mum, because they have that love and care. We talk about my grandma openly all the time and how we miss her dearly and somehow she must be looking over us. She had a rare form of cancer and died so young. It was tragic.

“I used to go to Cobh regularly when I was younger, and I recently went back with my mum to see my grandma’s house and to meet friends and family. That was an incredible trip. It’s so beautiful there.”
Lily likes to bring mementoes of her grandmother to games.

“I’m not really the most spiritual,” she reveals, “but I do like having crystals and some prayers and mementoes and they’ve come with me to every Ireland camp so far and I’m going to continue doing that.”

One of the most experienced players in the Ireland squad, Agg will be 30 in December. She began playing soccer in boys teams, which she’d recommend for any soccer-aspiring girl, for the physicality and the pace.

Her career has taken her to Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion (during which she got a degree in physical education), London Bees, Millwall, Cardiff Met Ladies and Bristol City, in the top level of English football the Women’s Super League. In 2018, she moved to FFC Frankfurt, becoming the first British female player to play in the German Frauen-Bundesliga. She returned to play for Charlton Athletic, Brighton (a second time), and current Championship (second tier) club, London City Lionesses.

 

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What was her Frankfurt experience like?

“The style of play there is very different to the Women’s Super League. In England, it’s very much go-go-go, you win the ball back and you want to attack, whereas in Germany it’s more possession based; once you win the ball and if it’s not a transition, we’re keeping it. It’s a bit more like chess, I would say, in terms of being patient, whereas in England I feel it’s a bit more like 100 miles per hour. And that’s where it’s going, you’ve got to attack and attack. The NWSL in the States is a bit like that.”

It’s been said that it can take the League of Ireland Women players time to get up to the fitness levels of the international game and they have a lot of work to do if they head over to a Women’s Super League club in the England.

“If you’re good enough, you’re good enough,” Lily insists. “For me, this whole fitness of leagues and differentiation is player-specific. I saw Rianna Jarrett at the weekend. She’s had a lot of injuries, but she still needs her match fitness and she’s gone back to Ireland to play with Wexford Youths FC, and that’s what’s right for her right now.

“It’s a bit like the Championship in England. Don’t get me wrong, playing for Arsenal, Chelsea or a Man City or Man United team, it is probably a different level – but down the rest of the league, I don’t believe it is. Actually, being in the Championship is more competitive at a higher level than the bottom of the WSL.

I’d prefer to compete in a busy midfield from week to week than be in a midfield where I have to play side to side defending against the likes of Chelsea every week. I don’t have a desperate need to play in the WSL. But that’s just me. I’m a competitor, and I need to compete every week.

“Some players can be out for three months and they can walk onto the pitch like they never left it, while for others it takes regular game-time. If you’re a good player, you’re gonna shine regardless of the league. So, I think it’s about picking the best players that are ready for Ireland. There’s some fantastic players in the Women’s League of Ireland. But football is a game of opinions.”

SPECIAL TATTOOS

How did she find the transition from England under-age international to the Irish set-up?

29 June 2023; Republic of Ireland players with their jerseys during a Republic of Ireland FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 squad announcement event at O'Reilly Hall in UCD, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

“To be honest, the England experience is a long time ago now. Laura Harvey was my Arsenal manager back then, so it helped in terms of the England set up – she knew what I was about as a player. I think that is what it’s about sometimes – having specific relationships with managers.

“It was Kay Cossington who originally made me captain and she put me in at number 4, a holding midfield position, against the likes of France in friendly games. It’s interesting that, with Ireland, I have reverted back to that role as well.

“Going into international camp is always great. When I go into camp with Ireland, I love seeing the girls, it can be like a two-week holiday. You’re there with your friends, you’re exercising, you’re committing, you’re pushing yourselves. It’s always great to have an international window to look forward to.”

How does she view Vera and Tom as a coaching team?

“They complement each other well,” she says. “Obviously, Vera is in charge and has her own football philosophy and approach and, as Assistant Coach, Tom follows this line. He’s not there to say ‘Yes’ to everything, but he explains things that need explaining. On the pitch, he often puts us through our paces and does our warm ups and possession routines, and then Vera will lead, more often than not, when we have 11 vs 11 and the tactical side.”

22 June 2023; Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Until recently, Lily had been teaching in the morning and training in the afternoon.

“I quit my job teaching,” she laughs. “I’ve always been in a situation where football is my second income. I’m getting older, so I need to start thinking about my life after football, a mortgage and a house, and being an adult, so it wasn’t easy to stand aside from the job.

“But I’ve got potentially the biggest year of my life. I’d regret it if I didn’t make that final 23 for the World Cup because of being pulled from pillar to post and turning up at training being just 50% because I’m so tired from being at work all morning. So, I took a decision to be the best footballer and athlete I can be. I know myself now that I’ve given it my all, eating the best I can, doing fitness training every morning, to be the best I can be for this World Cup.”

Does the fact that over 80,000 people will be in Sydney for Ireland’s World Cup opener terrify her or excite her?

“More like excitement!” she says enthusiastically. “How incredible is that, playing in Ireland’s first-ever World Cup? Like against Scotland or Finland, once you’ve seen the crowd you can then zone out – and this will be no different. You’re there just to play the game. But it is going to be an amazing occasion.”

 

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Do nerves ever get to you?

“I remember before the match with Finland, I went out to warm up and I saw loads of young girls and families in the rows near me. I was a bit nervous and I looked into the crowd and took a deep breath and lots of them smiled back at me and it actually put me more at ease.”

Any favourite pre-match music?

“On a game day, I’m very much R&B, hip hop, and rap: they get me going, get me very much fired up before the game. Afterwards, when I’m very much chilled and laid-back, it’s more Dermot Kennedy, who I absolutely love. I’ve seen him three times in concert. He has that unreal voice.”

Lily Agg has two rather special tattoos. One cites the date of Ireland’s qualification, 11-10-22. The other, on her wrist, references a Biblical quote which has passed from her grandmother to her mum and on to her: “To love is to give all of oneself.”

Given the chance, in Australia, Lily Agg will do no less.

Read the full World Cup special in the new issue of Hot Press, out now.