OTB Football
HANNAH WAESCH & JOHN SULLIVAN: "A near-perfect season will be needed" | Athlone Town's Double winners | Building on last year | LOI 2026 Season Launch
28 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Who are the key guests in this episode?
Word on the Street on Off the Ball.
Unfortunately, I think my word in the studio is just going to be nuance. Nuance? Yeah, it's kind of good.
That's just my word in the studio.
Word on the Street, available now on Go Loud app. Off the Ball. All right, delighted to be joined by Athlontown captain, Hannah Wesh, as we have found it is the correct pronunciation. So John Sullivan's here as well. The double champions from last year. So nice, Hannah, you won a double, you decided to stay in Ireland for another year.
Yeah, really excited, definitely. Came off on a high and looking forward to a new season.
You came here, I believe, did you kind of tout yourself out to clubs before you came to Athlone? And were Athlone the best club that came back to you, the only club that came back to you? How did that work out?
I think both statements are true, but I, yeah, definitely when I started this whole professional journey, reached out to a lot of clubs. Athlone was the only one that hit me back.
How have you found the adjustment from Texas to the Irish Midlands then?
Yeah, really similar people, really nice, very, very kind people. Weather's very different though, but I would say that's the biggest difference.
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Chapter 2: What are Hannah Waesch's thoughts on staying in Ireland after winning the double?
Yeah, look, Noelle's came in. She's flying in training. As well as Dana, as well as Hazel Donegan. People should get us there. Hazel's a fantastic striker. I think she'll have 100 goals in the youth league over the last three years also. So there's goals in abundance there in our squad. Kelly has left an imprint, but I'm pretty sure the group now can go on to further.
Were you hopeful of keeping her because after the Cup final she said if we keep most of the group together I'll consider staying but the word I'd heard on the ground was that the national team were very much saying we want you to go to the UK and go full-time pro so it was probably going to be tricky to keep her at that point.
Yeah of course when you're in the national team that's the aim isn't it? The national manager wants every player to be full-time and playing at her maximum capacity. Right now we couldn't offer full-time and she's conquered the level.
at the moment so of course she went on to bigger and better and we wish her all the best but in the meantime we had Dana lined up for the cup final so we were ready for the next move.
Does the help when Dana's coming back in, she knows the club already, you would hope that she's going to hit the ground running here?
Yeah, Dana knows the club, she knows the town, she knows the stewards by name. She's very comfortable and I'm sure Hannigan will elaborate a whole lot more on that. When players are happy in the environment, only Dan can be. and flourish their ability, or should I say express their ability.
I guess when Noelle became available, that would have become a decision to go straight after her, given everything she's done. I appreciate she's now in her mid-thirties, but a couple of years ago she scored in a cup final against your now team, and has scored a ridiculous amount of goals in the last ten years in this league, and I presume very hungry after she's left Shelburne as well.
Yeah, Noelle's a winner. She's a winner. Every girl in our dressing room is a winner. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in the dressing room. You know, age is just a number. And I'm pretty sure she'll show that this year. She's flying in training. We're extremely happy with her. And look, revolving doors. It opened on our end and we accepted her in.
Al, if I ask you about just the town and the way the town has taken to this team, you were Grand Marshals in the parade last year, I go on to win the double, the town has come out to celebrate you, you carried the cup over the shan and all the kind of traditional things and you've been getting great attendance as coming as you've been successful with the 18 months or so you've been here as well.
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Chapter 3: How has the team adjusted to the loss of key players like Kelly?
Yeah, I mean, I think the best part about the team is we kind of focus on ourselves and we don't really let outside noise get into our dressing room. And that's one of my favorite things about this team. It's one of my favorite things about each of these girls is we really just focus on being the best for ourselves and to be proud of ourselves.
John, I was talking to Stephen Gray when he took over as CEO and he was saying there's a massive commitment not just from the owners but from the front office in that lone town that they want to put a budget behind this women's team and he was saying that they're going to put as much money in as the men's team.
That must be really important for you, your assurance about the contract and I suppose an assurance that the budget is going to be there for you to have a very good playing staff here too.
Yeah, of course. Look, everyone needs assurance in life, don't they? And our players get that. They're all in pro contracts, and rightfully so. If we want to demand standards or raise standards, we must look at ourselves first and foremost. Overall, we want the WNL to improve in the next five to ten years, so someone has to take that step forward.
And we are very, very lucky that our overheads have done that for us.
When you came in, you were very keen to stress it was, let's get to the end of the season, let's see what happens, I'm here to do a job for the end of this. Do you feel more settled in the role now, having got to the end of the season?
Settled? Oh, all right, that's a good phrase. In a good way? Am I relaxed? Yeah, look, I'm relaxed. I'm quite confident in what we're doing. Very confident in what we're doing. The plan has gone, you know, everything's gone to plan so far. It's only week three of week eight of pre-season. We have meetings regularly with our overheads to see where we're going with the club.
There's still areas of improvement that we're all aware of. You know, draw the tongue before you point the finger, as we say to each other. But we will improve over time. We're nowhere near the finished products on the pitch and off the pitch. But, you know, with time we'll get better.
Given that time, given you've had a proper pre-season now with the team as well, does this help for you to implement your own plan with the team as well, as opposed to coming into mid-stream and trying to get them over the line in competitions?
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the community's support for Athlone Town?
Oh, that was so fun. I mean, we were speaking earlier, you and I, just how many supporters on both sides came. That is so incredible. I have played very few venues like that, and it completes the experience, really.
Because I think as well, John Hanna's come into it when women's football has got way more of a profile within the country. But even here at the launch today, the kind of exposure that's getting, the fact that Premier Division games are on TG Carr every weekend as well. This is almost unheritable territory, isn't it? Yeah, but it's brilliant.
It's brilliant. I think I read something there recently. Viewership has never been as high. Numbers are through the roof. Social media is through the roof. Like, brilliant. Like, keep doing what you're doing. Like, our game wouldn't grow if it wasn't for you guys doing your work. And we're very, very grateful of it. Whether it's yourselves on Off the Ball, RT Sport, TG Car, it's incredible.
It helps build the brand of the Women's National League and individuals within the league.
Do you share Hannah's belief that a near-perfect season would be needed to win that cup over there?
Does perfect really exist? It doesn't exist. So we strive for excellence, I keep telling myself. It will be tough. It will be tougher than last year. The top four is a lot better than what it is now due to all the revolving doors in the off-season. We've also improved and I believe we'll continue to improve.
I suppose you have to keep improving as well. I think the Shamrock Rovers, the internationals they've brought through, I saw a couple of them downstairs earlier and you just kind of think if that's the level of player that's moving into the top four right now to stay at the very top you have to keep bringing the very best in.
Of course. You bring in the best, you become the best. I've got a pocket full of quotes here. You've got to keep evolving. If you're not, you're just stagnating and going backwards.
How is pre-season going? I know you've got a bit to go but you have a President's Cup to kick off the season first. How are you now a few weeks out from the campaign getting underway properly?
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Chapter 5: How did last season's European adventure impact the team?
When I watch them play, I'm like, whoa, the future's bright in this place. The girls who came in, they came in good, moulded very well. One or two coming back from long-term injuries, they're like fresh air, bundles of energy.
What's your pre-season been like? Did you get home for a while or did you stay here?
Yeah, I was able to go home back to Texas for a few months. Yeah, it was really great to rest and recharge and be with family.
You just finished out. You're captain for this season. How do you feel about being skipper of this team?
It's an honour. It's an honour. I love these girls. These girls are literally the reason for me being here. Like, they mean the world to me. And so, yeah, it's great.
Don't worry about John. I'm going to slide you for a second. John, why have you picked her as your captain?
To be honest, it was a very difficult decision. Maddie Gibson also was an incredible leader, incredible leader, you know, without doubt. She's like the mother of the club. If there was a club captain, I know, They've done it years ago in Tottenham. There's a club captain and a team captain. Maddy and Hannah are like that and I'm very, very grateful for that relationship.
I would never in a million years try to separate that. Maddy is the overall club captain, we'd like to say. Hannah is the team captain. They both lead in their own way. And I strongly believe the group look up to both of them for various reasons. And I can see the young girls striving to be her. And if not, they can't do that, be her. And, you know, be like Maddy in other areas.
Sorry, but I think... With Hannah as captain, as Maddy as club captain, I think that's an amazing appointment with the staff.
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