Republic of Ireland footballer and Maynooth alumna Amber Barrett
The first touch took her clear and then she scored. Few of those who were watching will ever forget Amber Barrett’s goal against Scotland in Glasgow’s Hampden Park on October 11 last. Going on as a substitute in the crunch qualification match, it seems her goal was written in the stars.
What happened next as the 26 year-old from Milford, Co Donegal, knelt and kissed the black armband she wore in memory of the ten people who lost their lives in the Creeslough explosion tragedy only a few days earlier left not a dry eye in the house among Irish spectators there, and those watching on television.
Speaking to The Bridge in Germany where she plays professional football for Turbine Potsdam, Amber recalls how earlier that day she had been speaking to her mother.
She confided in her mother that events from home had left her feeling deflated, without much excitement for the game ahead. “I said I can’t get what happened out of my head,” says Amber.
When she scored that goal in the 72nd minute she went into automatic pilot and her heart went immediately to her home. In the biggest moment of her career, her first thoughts were with the people of her native county.
One of three children to Shaun-Paul and Jacqueline Barrett, Amber attended St Joseph’s Primary School in Rathmullan before going to the Loreto Community School in Milford. At school, she excelled in English and history but was equally interested in PE and sports.
Growing up with two brothers Luke (29) and Kane (25), Amber says sport was always a big part of her childhood, and her parents spent a lot of time ferrying their three children to sporting events and fixtures. In September 2014, Amber left home in Donegal to study at Maynooth University as part of the college’s soccer scholarship. Amber counts Barry Prenderville, the university’s soccer development officer, as a massive influence in her life, and her arrival at Maynooth coincided with a golden time for women’s college football.
Having grown up playing GAA, Amber says there were times when she still wanted to go back to it but Barry encouraged her to stick with soccer advising her that she would reap the rewards. He was one of the first to text her after the game in Glasgow wishing her well.
While at Maynooth, Amber also joined Peamount United women’s team under coach James O’Callaghan. This paved the way for her to join the women’s National team and soon Amber had attracted the attention of former national team manager Colin Bell.
“I was lucky enough to meet great people. Meeting great friends, doing subjects I had an interest in and playing with a very popular soccer team was wonderful. I also liked the independence of it all. I liked being able to get out and do my own thing,” she says of her time in university.
Despite all the attention, Amber says she was determined to finish her education before making any firm decisions about her playing future which would see her making the move abroad. People have asked her would she not have preferred to have turned professional earlier but Amber was insistent on earning her undergraduate degree at Maynooth, and subsequent Masters of education at DCU.
Looking back on her experience in Maynooth, Amber says there were times she did struggle but remembers one of her English lecturers ‘Dr Oona Frawley particularly fondly. “Her lectures were fascinating and she was passionate about everything she did. I remember we did Ulysses and George Orwell’s 1984 and it was one of these books I will re-read.”
A student of history too, Amber remembers Dr Dympna McLoughlin’s lectures on the history of medicine as being incredibly interesting. “She was the highlight lecturer for me and she was very understanding about my football.
There were times I had to be away but she pushed me hard as well – I think she had high expectations for me,” says Amber.
She describes the friends she made at Maynooth as friends for life. “Of course we spent a lot of our evenings in the Student’s Union, going for a cheap pint. I wouldn’t change a day of my experience at Maynooth. If I could go back and do one thing, I think I should have concentrated a bit more. English at university is something you need to put a lot of time into,” she says.
Two of her best friends from Maynooth are currently living in Australia. When Ireland qualified for the World Cup finals they messaged her to say they had their tickets bought. As well as hoping to do her country proud at one of the biggest sporting events in the world next year, she’s looking forward to catching up with some of her old gang from Maynooth.
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