Kellie fully focused on the chance of double glory
By Daire Walsh
She could have found herself shining on the big stage in a couple of different codes this year, but as she prepares to feature in her third consecutive Women’s FAI Cup final against Shelbourne in Tallaght Stadium on Sunday, Athlone Town’s Kellie Brennan is content with the sporting path she has chosen.
A native of Galway, Brennan was a gifted Gaelic football and camogie player in her youth. Along with the men’s football team, the Tribeswomen made it all the way to All-Ireland senior deciders at Croke Park in both female codes in 2024.
Yet after receiving a call-up to the Republic of Ireland U19 squad a number of years ago, Brennan opted to place her sole focus on soccer and she hasn’t looked back since. Before playing a pivotal role as Athlone secured their maiden Women’s Premier Division title this year, Brennan appeared as a substitute in a FAI Cup final defeat to Shelbourne in 2022 and started in their success over the Dubliners at the same stage 12 months later.
“I played Gaelic football when I was younger, but then I started to come up through the ranks in soccer. Obviously you want to play in games like this, a big crowd and on the TV as well. Why wouldn’t you? It’s every girl's dream to play in this,” Brennan remarked at a media day for their Women’s FAI Cup final against Shels.
While last year’s FAI Cup showpiece victory over Shels was a monumental achievement for Athlone, the Midlanders weren’t prepared to stop there. In addition to making it all the way back to the 2024 final, Ciaran Kilduff’s side amassed 15 wins, two draws and just three defeats on their way to claiming an historic league crown.
Having secured two significant landmarks within the past year, the next frontier for Brennan and her Athlone team-mates is to add a domestic double to their already impressive list of accolades.
“We definitely know it’s not going to be easy, but we’ve won the league and now our next focus is on the cup on Sunday. Hopefully we can do it,” Brennan said.
“Winning the league last week was great joy and even around the town, the buzz and all the people coming to support us. Hopefully we can get them down on Sunday to support us in the Cup and we can hopefully do it.
“This is the big game at the end of the season that everyone wants to play in. For the past three years, it has been us and Shels. Obviously we want to win it, every game we want to win and it’s a final. We want to make the crowd proud, Ciaran proud and all the fans proud.”
Although she is virtually guaranteed to start the game, there is considerable intrigue over where Brennan will line out in the final. Having started 18 consecutive league games at right-back, she was moved into an attacking midfield role for their home encounter against Bohemians on October 5 and responded with a superb goal in a 2-0 win that ultimately sealed Premier Division honours.
The deployment of Brennan in a more advanced position was partly brought about by injuries to some key players and after opening her goal account for 2024, she is hopeful of doubling her tally in south Dublin this weekend.
“I just saw it and took my chance. Brenda [Ebika Tabe] passed it and I just turned her, and then scored. It’s my first goal, I’d say, this season. I know I’m well capable of scoring goals and hopefully on Sunday I might be able to sneak one like that again,” Brennan added.