Tag: Shelbourne FC

Damien Duff totally gets why his Shelbourne player ditched team to join ‘Love Island’

“I was shocked and saddened that Scott chose a villa in Mallorca full of beautiful, single women over myself, the staff and the players”

League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne FC has announced that goalkeeper Scott van der Sluis is leaving the team to join the television show “Love Island.”

Shelbourne head coach, Ireland legend Damien Duff, appears to have some sympathy for his now-former player’s decision.

“I was shocked and saddened that Scott chose a villa in Mallorca full of beautiful, single women over myself, the staff and the players,” Duff said in a press release.

“All jokes aside, I thank Scott for his services to Shelbourne FC and we all wish him the very best for the future, whatever that holds.”

The 22-year-old is hoping that future holds plenty of romance, as well as some wins for his former club.

“I’ve loved my time at Shels, football is all I’ve ever done, all I’ve ever known. So this is a new and exciting opportunity for a change-up in life,” he said.

“Shels are a great club going in the right direction and I look forward to seeing what the lads can achieve. Shels is my club, I’ll be cheering on the lads as a fan when I leave the villa.”

According to the show page on ITV, Van der Sluis has been single for three and a half years and he’s looking for “a girl with a strong personality, who’s independent and knows what they want.”

But any potential romantic partner be warned: “I have a very, very strong personality so if I see anything I don’t agree with, there’ll definitely be fireworks!”

Godspeed, Scott.

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USWNT legend Heather O’Reilly scores winner as Shelbourne FC advances in UWCL qualifying

HAO’s march to the UWCL is picking up steam

Heather O’Reilly came out of retirement to play in the Champions League, and she just helped Shelbourne FC get one step closer to qualifying.

O’Reilly, who less than three weeks ago announced that she was coming out of retirement to join the Irish champions, nodded home the game’s only goal as Shelbourne defeated Slovenian side ZNK Pomurje 1-0 in the first round of the UWCL qualifying process.

The three-time gold medalist needed just four minutes to get on the scoresheet as Shelbourne turned a furious start into a lead. The former USWNT winger, who had hung her boots up in 2019, reacted first after a cross into the area wasn’t headed clear, sneaking past her marker to float a header back across goal and into the upper corner.

Before O’Reilly’s goal, Shelbourne had already won a penalty kick only to see it saved, but they never really let their hosts out, with O’Reilly eventually providing the crucial touch to give them the lead.

“What a dream come true,” O’Reilly said in a video posted by Shelbourne after the match. “I don’t head the ball a ton, I’m usually on the serving end of things, but it was bouncing around in the box, and I just put a little bit of height on the header. I knew I had to get it up and over the goalkeeper, and I placed it exactly where I meant to place it.”

O’Reilly and Shelbourne will remain in Slovenia for the final of the four-team tournament that makes up the UWCL’s Champions Path first round, which is exactly as convoluted as it sounds. They’ll face Icelandic club Valur IF, who won the first game of Wednesday’s double-header 2-0 over FC Hayasa of Armenia, in a one-off final.

Sunday’s game will pose a taller task, as Valur’s squad features 10 players with caps for Iceland, including numerous long-time regulars for the national team, as well as Venezuela forward Mariana Speckmaier (who won the NWSL championship in 2021 with the Washington Spirit) and in Cyera Hintzen and Brookelynn Entz, two Americans who were drafted by NWSL clubs in recent years.

If O’Reilly and Shelbourne win again, they’ll join 10 other teams that won four-team, geographically centralized tournaments in the second round, along with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Rosengård (Sweden), and HB Køge (Denmark), who all received byes. If they can win a two-legged tie in the second round, O’Reilly’s dream of UWCL soccer will be one more achievement added to her endless list of successes.

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Ex-USWNT star Heather O’Reilly comes out of retirement to join Irish club Shelbourne FC

HAO slow down? Never

Heather O’Reilly is not slowing down even one tiny bit, with the Champions League now in her sights.

The former U.S. women’s national team winger put together 231 caps, won a World Cup and three different Olympic gold medals, picked up two NWSL championships at the club level, and more recently finished the Boston Marathon and appeared on American Ninja Warrior just months after having a second child.

O’Reilly’s entire career was defined by endless energy, and that trend is continuing. The ex-USWNT star announced on BBC’s World Football that she is coming out of retirement to sign with Irish club Shelbourne FC.

“I had a long, successful, trophy-ridden career and I am very proud of that, but there was this one hole on my resume that I never played Champions League football,” O’Reilly said. “It was a disappointing end to my time over with Arsenal when I wrapped up with them in 2018, it irked me, it bothered me. It was always a thing in the back of my head.”

O’Reilly credited a nudge from Arsene Wenger, who coached her team at Unicef’s Soccer Aid charity match, for her return to pro soccer.

Shelbourne won the Women’s National League in 2021 by a single point, and thus got themselves into the first round of Champions League qualifying. O’Reilly said that once she decided to pursue a UWCL appearance for the first time in her career, she touched base with the club, which is based in the Dublin suburbs.

“I reached out to them. I don’t know if it was known that I was interested in coming out of retirement,” said O’Reilly. “It has been three years nearly since I officially retired from club football. People needed to know that I was interested.”

O’Reilly and Shelbourne do not have an easy path to the Champions League group stage. UEFA’s convoluted qualification process sees Shelbourne in the first round of the Champions Path, which for them means a four-team mini-tournament that will be played from August 18-21 in a yet-to-be-determined location. They’ll face ZNK Pomurje of Slovenia, and if they advance, they get a game against either Icelandic side Valur or FC Hayasa of Armenia.

If Shelbourne comes through that test, they’ll join the other 10 winners of the Champions Path mini-tournaments, plus seeded sides Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Rosengård (Sweden), and HB Køge (Denmark), in the draw for the second round. Shelbourne would be paired off in that draw, facing a two-legged home-and-away tie in the last two weeks of September for a spot in the group stage.

If O’Reilly’s UWCL dream is successful, it will also be a big achievement for Irish women’s soccer. Only two clubs from Ireland have ever made it to the Champions League proper: Peamount United in 2011-12, and and Raheny United in 2014-15.

In the meantime, Shelbourne has a seven-point lead to maintain at the top of the WNL as they near the halfway point in the season.

“I’m chasing my dream,” added O’Reilly. “I had this unchecked box and I’m looking to go do it, and for good reasons. I’m thrilled about it, the club is thrilled about it, and I think it’s one of those situations where it’s just a win-win all around.”

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