IRELAND'S WOMEN'S captain Katie McCabe feels moving the upcoming World Cup qualifier aga inst Finland shouldn't be moved from the Tallaght Stadium to the Aviva mid-campaign.
England are holding the European Championships this summer and a huge debate around the use of the stadiums has become a hot topic, with people even calling the use of some of the venues 'disrespectful'.
🗣 'I want to sell out Tallaght before we jump ship over to the Aviva' @Katie_McCabe11 does not think now is the right time to move the Finland game to the Aviva | 🏟
Full chat ➡️ https://t.co/Q30gLbThKE pic.twitter.com/lBJCI5X8C5— Off The Ball (@offtheball) April 21, 2022
One of these venues is the Academy Stadium instead of Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.
The Academy Stadium holds a capacity of 7000. while the Etihad, where the men play, holds 55,000 people.
This all comes a few weeks after Barcelona and Madrid broke the record attendance for a women's game with 95,000 people watching the game
McCabe has given her take on it and understands the view that many hold towards the smaller venue.
"I understand the frustration, she explained while speaking at the launch of Cadbury's campaign to support Irish women's grassroots football.
"It's not as if the Euros are being held in a country where there's limited stadiums. There’s plenty of stadiums around so I can see Gunnarsdottir’s frustration.
"I’d much rather play at the Etihad than the Academy Stadium but if there’s an opportunity where we can - especially in a major tournament - use those bigger stadiums, to get more spectators in watching the games, we should use it."
"It's massive for young girls and boys that look up to us and kind of see us as role models."
Talk of moving from a smaller venue, the Tallaght Stadium to the Aviva(51,710) to host women's games in the future came up, but the Ireland captain said 'now is not the time to make the move.'
"If you're asking me should we play (September's World Cup qualifier against) Finland in the Aviva Stadium then I would say no.
Dublin , Ireland - 25 November 2021; Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe gives her boots to a young supporter at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"That’s just my personal opinion. I haven’t spoken to other players on that or to the manager or anything like that, I don’t see why mid-campaign we’d switch home grounds.
"I’m kind of contradicting what I’m saying on Gunnarsdottir’s comments but I think especially within the middle of a campaign, there's no need for us to switch home ground. Tallaght is our home, we love playing there, she added.
"I think until we start selling that out there’s no need to jump the gun and start playing in the Aviva. I'm not saying we should never play there as the women’s national team, not at all.
"I do think going forward, if we want to continue to grow the game - especially in Ireland - Aviva Stadium games would be nice, but let’s crack it off with a friendly against England or the USA or something, not in the middle of a qualifying campaign."
Ireland's next game will be against Finland in September
Republic of Ireland Women vs Finland Ladies. Women's World Cup Qualifying Group A.
12:00am, Thursday 1st September 2022. Tallaght Stadium.
See More: Football, Ireland, Katie McCabe
