McCabe named amongst the best in the WSL
By Daire Walsh
Republic of Ireland soccer team captain Katie McCabe completed a fine season at club level by being named in the PFA Women’s Super League Team of the Year for 2020/21.
An Arsenal WFC player since December 2015, this is the Kilnamanagh native’s first time to make this annual selection.
The fact that she is one of just two Arsenal representatives on the side – English defender Leah Williamson being the other – speaks volumes for the contribution McCabe has made to their season.
The former St Francis youth prodigy made 26 appearances across all competitions and finished with a healthy tally of five goals.
Four of these were in the WSL itself, while she was also on target in Arsenal’s 9-0 demolition of Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the FA Cup last month.
The latter competition has been severely disrupted due to COVID-19 and Arsenal will have to wait until September 29 to play their quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur. Should The Gunners triumph at the end of this competition, it will see McCabe achieving a clean sweep of domestic silverware in England – having won the FA Cup and the WSL in 2016 and 2019 respectively.
Champions League football is also guaranteed for McCabe next season, after a run of eight wins and one draw in their last nine games – a sequence that saw them scoring 23 goals and conceding just one – earned Arsenal third spot in the top-flight table.
McCabe is also set for a return to international action after she was selected in Vera Pauw’s 23-strong squad for the forthcoming friendly double-header against Iceland in Reykjavik on June 11 and June 15.
Joining her in the camp for these games will be Peamount United duo Áine O’Gorman and Claire Walsh as well as Lucan’s Niamh Farrelly – who is now plying her trade in Scotland with Glasgow City.