As Marissa Callaghan celebrates her 41st birthday today, we look at some of her best moments playing for Northern Ireland…
Former Northern Ireland senior women’s team captain Marissa Callaghan made her senior international debut in a friendly against Scotland in May 2010.
She would go on to earn a total of 91 caps for her country, scoring eight goals.
For over half of her international career she wore the captain’s armband. She was skipper on 52 occasions across an eight-year period.
Callaghan, who announced her retirement from international football in March 2025, first captained Northern Ireland in June 2016 in a European Championship qualifier against Georgia. She scored twice in a 4-0 home victory against the Georgians.
Her high point as skipper came when she led the senior women’s team to their first major tournament, UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, under then manager Kenny Shiels.
In April 2021 she scored the opening goal at Seaview as Northern Ireland defeated Ukraine 2-0 in the second game of a two-legged play-off to reach the finals of Euro 2022 in England. In the first game, played a week earlier, Northern Ireland defeated Ukraine 2-1 in Kovalivka.
At the tournament in July 2022 - it was postponed for a year due to Covid - she was on the subs bench for the first group game against Norway. It was a precaution as she had only just recovered from an injury. However, she played 45 minutes of that game and then started the remaining group games against Austria and England, captaining the side in both encounters.
Callaghan, who was made an MBE for services to football and the community in The King’s New Year Honours list in 2025, made her final appearance for Northern Ireland against Malta in April 2024.
It was in a League B Group 3 encounter in the European Qualifiers phase of the UEFA Women’s Nations League. She wore the armband in the goalless draw played at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.
Callaghan was included in then manager Tanya Oxtoby’s squad for five subsequent UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 qualifiers but was an unused substitute in each game.
The midfielder, who works as Women’s Football Development Officer with the Irish Football Association’s Foundation, first played for a girls’ team, Newington Girls (now known as Cliftonville Ladies), at the age of 13.
She subsequently went to university in the United States on a football scholarship, returning home in 2005.
The midfielder signed for Cliftonville Ladies again – and spent her entire club career with the north Belfast team.
In 2024 she was part of the Reds side that secured an historic treble: NIFL Women’s Premiership, Irish FA Women’s Challenge Cup and the NIFL Women’s League Cup. The ‘Invincibles’ won the NIFL Women’s Premiership with a 100 per cent record.
Callaghan, who brought her playing career to an end last autumn, also helped Cliftonville Ladies win their first Premiership title in 2022 along with numerous other trophies.
She was a stalwart for both club and country.
Happy Birthday Marissa!
