Kelly Brady of Athlone Town celebrates with the FAI Cup after scoring a hat-trick in Sunday's final against Bohemians at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on Sunday. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.

Ireland boss praises Athlone's Kelly Brady but says playoff call-up is unlikely

Adrian Cusack

Published: Tue 21 Oct 2025, 12:25 PM

Kelly Brady, the hat-trick hero in Athlone Town's FAI Cup win against Bohemians on Sunday, has been praised by Republic of Ireland boss Carla Ward for her "impressive" athleticism and goal-poaching instincts.

Brady has been invited to train with Ireland this week, but Ward admitted it was unlikely she would receive a full call-up to the squad for the upcoming Nations League promotion/relegation play-off against Belgium.

The first leg between Ireland and Belgium takes place at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.

Ward attended the 3-2 win against Bohemians which secured an historic league and cup double for Athlone Town. In comments reported by RTÉ Sport, the Ireland manager hailed Brady's impact this year.

"I think Kelly's been impressive all season. She just gives you something a little bit different. I think her athleticism is probably different to maybe some of the other League of Ireland players that we've looked at," said Ward.

"Her movement in the box is unbelievable. I mean, you look at the first and the second goal (against Bohemians)... just her movement to get across players, and she's got a leap a lot of forwards would love.

"But like I said, we've spoken about it a lot, haven't we, around the difference between League of Ireland part-time football into full-time.

"The biggest gap is probably that athleticism and the physical side of it. So it'll be a really good chance to have a look at her this week for sure."

She clarified that she regarded Brady as "a training player" with Ireland for the time-being and said a call-up for Friday was unlikely unless others sustained injuries.

"I would suggest it would take maybe somebody coming out at this point (for Brady to be called up)," she said.

"If you'd have a look at her competition in that No. 9 spot, we're quite heavy-loaded there. But I think this (week) initially is to have a really good look at her and for her to obviously have a look at a full-time set-up as well."

Brady was born in the US but qualifies to play for her Ireland as a result of her family roots in Castleblaney, Monaghan and Kinvara, Galway.

She was the leading scorer in the League of Ireland this season, with her 20 goals helping Athlone to a second successive league title.