From Australia, Covid, marriage and motherhood to a shock call-up – Julie-Ann Russell is relishing Ireland return

Since her last appearance off the bench against Greece in 2020, it hasn’t been so much a case of reeling in the years but compiling several chapters of an enduring existence.

Australia. Pandemic. Marriage. House-building. Motherhood. Ireland at a World Cup.

If it seemed more likely that she would run a marathon a few months after giving birth than being called up for Ireland once more, this much was proven last November.

Five months after the 33-year-old Galway United midfielder and husband Kieran welcomed Rosie into their lives, she fulfilled a dream to complete the New York marathon.

That she did so in a stunning three hours forty-eight minutes perhaps reflected her continuing commitment to extracting as much marrow from life as humanly possible.

And, perhaps, neatly explains why she is in a hotel in Norwich preparing for the first competitive visit of an Irish team to England since 1991.

“It still feels surreal,” beams the Moycullen native. “Everyone has been so welcoming. I’m a bit shook to be honest. Obviously I’d seen them doing well and so it had never really crossed my mind. I’m so happy. Then again, I never officially retired…”

Since Rosie’s birth last June, Russell decided that she would eventually resume her club career where it had all started in the inaugural year of the domestic league, in 2011 with Salthill Devon.

She tested the waters at the end of last term and has dived deeply this.

A hat-trick and a player of the month award during Galway United’s impressive early surge towards league leadership offered a stirring reminder of her abilities.

The FAI have welcomed Rosie into camp but Russell remains unfazed; she has spent most of her life juggling life, sport and work.

For more than a decade she had been a stalwart of the game here, (like her older bother, John, himself no mean midfielder) making her senior debut in October 2009 against Kazakhstan while also playing underage Gaelic Football alongside All-Ireland winner Niamh Fahey.

She was 2014 FAI Senior Women’s International Player of the and featured at successive World University Games in 2013 and 2015.

After leaving Salthill, she won multiple honours with Peamount and UCD Waves, but also had stints in the US (Los Angeles Strikers) and England (Doncaster Rovers Belles).

Today at the Euros: England and Netherlands descend on Dortmund

She completed two degrees and joined Microsoft, but between 2017 and 2021 she was based in Australia where she turned out for Sydney University and then Western Sydney Warriors in the W-League.

As Covid struck, Ireland seemed further away than ever. After becoming a mother, perhaps it seemed like an Ireland squad return did too.

“When I was living in Australia, it was difficult to leave and get back in with the strong rules. Then back in Ireland I got pregnant so it really has been a whirlwind couple of years,” she said.

“It’s funny, I feel like I’m fitter and stronger for having Rosie. I don’t know what that is down to. I’m older and have more experience. My perspective has changed, she is my number one priority and that helps.

“And it is not so difficult for me to balance everything. From a young age I’ve been used to having a hectic life, playing football and studying from a young age.

“I’ve always been able to balance everything with work and then throwing in a baby now! I just love it.

“I’ll keep playing while my body is able to and until I fall out of love with it. At the moment I’m happy and I’ll continue.”

Eileen Gleeson may have stunned Russell with the phone call last month but her resurgence with the awakening westerners did not surprise the manager.

“Obviously I’ve known Julie a very long time,” says Gleeson, who combined with Russell for back-to-back Cup wins during their time in Peamount.

“She’s a very experienced player, 60 caps. We’re actively watching the League of Ireland games and Julie is doing really well with Galway.

“She’s super fit, we know that she’s a phenomenal worker without the ball, her work-rate is excellent, she brings experience.

“And then on the ball, she likes to dribble. We feel she can really add to the squad with experience and with the type of player that she is.”

Being a mother will make it even more so – and she will have plenty of potential babysitters.

“It’s just incredible to have her in, it just makes my life more easier,” says Julie-Ann.

“The FAI have been so accommodating and so welcoming, I’m so grateful and I suppose if you said back in 2017, when we had the strike, people said you may have had a baby in the camp, you would have laughed. It’s come on so much and I’m so grateful.

“Rosie has a lot of new aunties which is amazing. She’s the star of the show and absolutely loving life here and she has a few role models as well.

“It’s great for her to witness this and I can tell her in years to come what she was doing when she turned one.”