It’s getting closer. As the Ireland players gathered for their first camp of the year in Marbella earlier this week, the World Cup felt that little bit more real. There were meetings between players and staff, as they put some shape on the coming months. The scenario of walking out in front of 83,000 people in Stadium Australia on July 20th was discussed.
‘We have been talking about the upcoming months and what we will do at all these camps in preparation,’ Heather Payne explained over Zoom from the team’s Spanish base. ‘As we go on, it gets closer and closer and gets more real. It is exciting, just having meetings about the lead-up to flying out to Australia. It is getting more and more serious now and everyone is trying to get on that plane.’
Payne has a big year ahead. Not only will she be representing her country in a major tournament, she will also close another chapter in her life when she graduates from her dietetics degree from Florida State University in May. It will conclude a successful four years as a Florida State Seminoles player that saw her win an NCAA title and a College Cup last year, following in the footsteps of international teammates Megan Campbell and Megan Connolly.
It also means that the Ballinasloe native has a big call to make this summer. Stay in the States or go to Europe in pursuit of a professional football career.
‘This is my last semester and then I will have to make a decision. I am not going to rush into anything. My main focus is the World Cup and making that final 23. Hopefully, if that goes well for me, I will have options.’
Although Payne will be a qualified dietician come May, the plan is to put that on the back-burner until after her football career. Her focus is be a professional player. She hasn’t decided where that will be yet. Denise O’Sullivan, recently made captain of North Carolina Courage, has been extolling the virtues of the NWSL but Payne will have to take part in the draft system and won’t have a choice on where she ends up.
‘Denise loves the Courage and says that I am welcome there. But that is not how the system works in America, because you have to enter a draft and don’t really have a choice in where you go, in that regard. I am talking to everyone, trying to get a view of what everyone thinks of different places. Just keeping my options open, so when I make a decision, I will make the right one.’
Payne’s performances for Vera Pauw’s side should have alerted plenty of scouts to her potential. Her ceaseless work-rate and burst of acceleration in the thankless role of a lone striker has been key to the team’s success under the Dutchwoman. And even though she has only scored once in her 29 outings for the senior team, her value is measured in more than goals.
Payne’s outstanding displays saw her named the FAI women’s player of the year in 2021 after her contributuion in Helsinki – creating the winner for O’Sullivan – made people sit up and take notice. And some of the stats from the qualifying campaign underline her importance to the Irish team: running more than 11km during the 1-0 win over Finland in Dublin, reaching a top speed of more than 30kmph in one of her sprints against Slovakia. While O’Sullivan and Katie McCabe remain Ireland’s two most important players, everyone understands the significant role that Payne has also played.
That is why it is difficult to imagine Payne not starting in Australia, if she is fit and healthy. But she doesn’t want to tempt fate. When the draw was made for the World Cup, Payne realised that she was in the same group as a couple of her Seminoles teammates – Nigeria’s Onyi ‘Jo’ Echegini and Canada’s Gabby Carle. But they haven’t allowed themselves to fream of facing each other on the world stage – for now ‘We haven’t spoken too much about it yet, because it is still far away and we are all still fighting to get into our squads first. We don’t want to be getting too far ahead of ourselves. It is more the excitement of us all having the opportunity of going to the World Cup, especially when we have qualified.’
When Ireland qualified for the World Cup, Payne had to catch a flight back to the US, as Florida State had a vital game against Duke University, rather than join the delirious celebrations in Dublin. But she was home at Christmas, visited her old club, Ballinasloe Town, and her old primary school. She was able to see first hand the effect that Ireland reaching its first World Cup was having in her locality.
‘I have been getting messages from old clubs who have started girls’ underage teams now, which is great to see. I think with us qualifying, it will definitely open more and more doors for young girls.’
