HANNAH WAESCH & JOHN SULLIVAN: "A near-perfect season will be needed" | Athlone Town's Double winners | Building on last year | LOI 2026 Season Launch
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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.
I think the good news is you've got a new housemate, Dana Sheriff, who's back at the club. Great player to have back.
Oh, absolutely. I love Dana. I've only known her for a few weeks, but it really does feel like I've known her for years.
John, can I ask you just about how the post-season has been? Because obviously Kelly leaving was going to be a blow with the incredible season that she had last year. But to be able to replace her now with Noelle Murray, who scored so many goals in this league over the last decade, that's not a bad swap up front for you this season.
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.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Who are the key guests in this episode?
0:01–1:36
2
What are Hannah Waesch's thoughts on staying in Ireland after winning the double?
1:36–5:25
3
How has the team adjusted to the loss of key players like Kelly?
5:25–12:45
4
What is the significance of the community's support for Athlone Town?
12:45–14:49
5
How did last season's European adventure impact the team?
14:49–17:27
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from OTB Football
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