Leitrim intend to be serious competitors in Senior Championship says Charlene Tyrell

Ladies Football: “We’re obviously not looking forward to games ahead in the senior championship as just making up the numbers. We intend to compete and be serious competitors”

By Daire Walsh

While she briefly contemplated the idea of retirement, Leitrim’s Charlene Tyrell has admitted the prospect of playing in the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship was one of many reasons why she decided to extend her inter-county career into 2025.

Having made her debut as far back as 2003, Tyrell was in the starting line-up when the O’Rourke County defeated Wexford to claim an All-Ireland intermediate title four years later. After returning to the fold in 2020 following a near decade-long absence, Tyrell went on to feature at full-back at the age of 38 last August when the Connacht side secured another second-tier crown with a thrilling final win over Tyrone at Croke Park.

Leitrim did enjoy a couple of senior campaigns in the wake of their intermediate success of 2007, but circumstances dictated that Tyrell didn’t play for them at the grade. With Jonny Garrity’s side set to compete in both the Connacht and All-Ireland senior championships later this year, Tyrell will finally get an opportunity to sample life at the highest level of ladies football.

“There was a period after all the celebrations and everything had settled down, and I sort of enjoyed not having anything to do. I had considered ‘God, will I go back?’, but once I got back to training, the desire is there and the love is there. Mainly to get out of Division Four, first and foremost, but really excited to play senior championship this year,” Tyrell explained.

“It will obviously be one competition at a time, but really excited to be playing against some of the best teams in the country and see how we fare. I haven’t played senior championship with Leitrim, so it will be really exciting.

“We’re obviously not looking forward to games ahead in the senior championship as just making up the numbers. We intend to compete and be serious competitors. Hopefully we can establish ourselves as a senior team and stay up in the senior ranks. By the time I retire, hopefully I’ll be leaving Leitrim in a better place. Leaving a nice little legacy behind.”

Aside from those All-Ireland intermediate championship triumphs 17 years apart, the other national title Tyrell has won in the colours of Leitrim is a Lidl National Football League Division 4 crown from 2010.

The Mohill defender and her inter-county colleagues have been pushing hard for a second success in the latter competition, but the past four years has seen them suffering a brace of reversals at both the semi-final and final stages of Division 4.

Despite losing their opening game of this year’s league to Fermanagh, Leitrim will just need to finish in the top-four at the end of the group phase in order to advance to the knockout rounds of NFL’s fourth-tier. Although last weekend saw their proposed clash with Wicklow being postponed, the O’Rourke women will be back in action this Sunday against Derry in Kiltubrid.

Both teams that qualify for the Division 4 decider will automatically gain league promotion for 2025 – which wasn’t the case when they lost NFL showpieces in 2021 and 2023 – but Tyrell is adamant Leitrim will be aiming to come away with the top prize if they get that far.

“Last year we lost out in the semi-final stages, which was completely heartbreaking, the nature of that loss. I think that will haunt me forever, but last year ourselves and Fermanagh flew through the group stages and topped the group.

“We were well ahead on points and I’m not sure if a little bit of complacency set in, so we’re definitely a lot more focused this year on what we want to achieve and it’s to win Division Four. It’s not to just be promoted, it’s to win it, but we’ll take that one game at a time. We’ll look forward now to next weekend and tick off that box.”

When Leitrim lost to Limerick in a Lidl NFL Division 4 semi-final on March 24 of last year, Tyrell found herself coming up against Roisin Ambrose. Fast forward a little over 10 months and she is now joining forces with the Treaty joint captain as an ambassador for DFI Beds – who were unveiled on Thursday as the official Sleep partner of the LGFA.

“When I was asked, I actually wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying yes to! It’s great to be involved and represent Leitrim. It’s great coverage for us as well. It’s lovely to be involved and to be asked.

“I’ve only ever sort of met Róisín on the pitch. I never met her off the field, so it’s lovely. That’s what football is all about too. It’s not just about playing on the field, but it’s about making friends outside the football side of things and outside the county. It’s lovely, she’s a great girl. We had good fun now doing some of the photographs that you’ll see appear!”

In addition to all the above and her day job as a sports therapist, Tyrell has also been kept busy in recent months with her role as a mental health facilitator for the Movember Ahead of the Game campaign that is jointly run by the GPA, the GAA and Movember.

Given she has spoken so openly about her own personal struggles in the past, Tyrell was delighted to get involved in this campaign and has found it extremely rewarding to date.

“I just go around to the clubs around Connacht, delivering mental health workshops to underage teams and parents and coaches as well. I only started that in September, so that’s lovely. I love doing that,” Tyrell added.

“It’s definitely something I wish I had when I was younger, because it wasn’t until I was in my early 20s and had my son [Noah] that I suffered myself with postnatal depression. Didn’t know even what it was at that age when it came on me. To give the kids the understanding of the signs and symptoms, and to reach out and to talk.

“I think it’s something that we get great feedback from the players and the coaches, that they’ve a better understanding that your mental health is your health. It’s not two separate things, your mental health and your physical health, it’s all one. It is vitally important.”

• Leitrim’s Charlene Tyrell was speaking as DFI Beds were announced as ‘Official Sleep Partner of the LGFA.’