Katie McCabe says she’s ‘enjoying her football again’ after her summer transfer to Chelsea.
The left-back was speaking in her captain’s role for the Republic of Ireland after she scored in a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan on Tuesday, a result that sent her nation through to the second round of the 2027 Women’s World Cup play-offs with a 12-0 aggregate win.
While her focus on the night was purely on her country, she gave a glimpse into life at her new club to give some context to her excellent form.
‘The move for me has been a breath of fresh air,’ she said. ‘It was time for me to start a new chapter. Ever since I’ve come in to work with Chelsea and Sonia (Bompastor) and the girls, it’s been brilliant. We’ve had a fantastic start to the season.
‘The role is a little bit different, but I’m loving learning all the new things from a new coach. I’m playing with world-class players, and I’m really enjoying it.
‘I’m enjoying my football again and just taking it game by game. There are so many games, but for me personally, what’s most important now is to be in the best position to qualify for a World Cup.’
McCabe captained Ireland to qualify for their first World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. The side will now face a two-legged tie against Poland to decide whether or not they will qualify for a second consecutive World Cup this summer in Brazil.
Carla Ward's side have already beaten Poland twice in qualifying – a side with Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor among their squad – but things have not all been plain sailing.
February’s 4-0 loss against Slovenia in Women’s Nations League action was compounded by another 1-0 defeat to the same opponent in June, and McCabe doesn’t want the team to take anything for granted.
‘We've put ourselves in a really good position,' continued McCabe. 'The opponents we've faced, top ten opponents, the girls have done brilliantly. Since Carla came in, it's been a transition period, and it’s taken a bit of time to find our feet.
‘We learnt our lesson with that heavy defeat by Slovenia, and we've built and grown. We've tried to gather as much momentum as possible. We've had some highs and lows over the years. It's going to be really important, and we'll stick together going into November.
‘We'll be doing everything we can to get over the line and get this country to the World Cup again. For us, we've played them recently, and it's going to be different come November. We know there's a World Cup place at stake, so we need to be ready. It's an exciting one.’