When Stephanie Zambra (née Roche) announced that she was retiring from football after Shamrock Rovers’ final game of the season against Shelbourne this Saturday, she referred back to her childhood days when she was kicking a ball around the streets of Shanganagh Cliffs in her native Shankill.
Back then, she says, the life football ended up giving her was “unimaginable”, Zambra going on to play for a string of clubs in Ireland, as well as having adventures in France, the United States, England and Italy. And, of course, there was her 15-year international career, during which she won 58 caps for Ireland.
Deciding, then, that the time had come to retire wasn’t easy for the 35-year-old when football has been such an enormous part of her life.
“And it was never going to be easy to say it out loud,” she says. “It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while, I have a lot going on in my life so it felt it was the right time to move on. Telling people was the hardest part, especially my team-mates and family, it was quite emotional.”
“When I started out, there weren’t many girls playing football, so to see where the women’s game has gone to in that time, and to have been part of the journey, is brilliant.”
“Not everything always went perfect for me, but I think I learned from every experience, whether it be from a footballing or personal point of view. I grew in character and in mental resilience, which is needed for a long career in football. There were so many highs and lows along the way, but I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been an unbelievable experience, a brilliant journey, and I’m just so proud of everything that I’ve achieved and been able to do.”
There was no crazier time, she says, than when the goal she scored for Peamount United against Wexford Youths in October 2013 was nominated for the Puskás Award. “It was just mad,” she laughs, “to be put in the limelight like that was a really weird experience. As a young girl from Shankill, I never imagined being able to go the Ballon d’Or ceremony and be in that company.”
Among those she was up against were Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robin van Persie, Diego Costa and the eventual winner James Rodríguez, Zambra finishing runner-up in the voting, the highest placing ever achieved by a woman player.
Is that famous photo of her, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both nominees for the Ballon d’Or award that year, hanging on her wall?
“We still haven’t got it printed, to be honest,” she laughs. “Dean [Zambra, her husband] and myself got our first home at the start of the year, so maybe it’s going to be one that will go up at some stage. It was a great photo, and it was amazing to see it on all the front pages.”
Another photo that made the front pages was when she front and centre at Liberty Hall back in 2017 when, along with her international team-mates, she made a stand against the FAI’s treatment of the women’s senior team.
“Obviously, that was a huge moment for me and the girls at the time. We kind of knew that we had to do something and the time was right to do it. We all agreed that it wasn’t going to be for our benefit, it was going to be for the girls coming behind us.
“I think it was a defining moment in women’s football in Ireland, it really made people step up and pay attention to the girls. And if you look at how far the women’s team has come since then, getting to their first World Cup and hopefully now on the cusp of getting to the Euros, it was a huge step forward.”
“And women’s football has come a long, long way, I’m just happy to have been able to play my part throughout the years. There’s still so much more that can be done and needs to be done, but the opportunities that these young girls now have at their feet compared to what we had growing up is unbelievable.”
The highlight? She doesn’t hesitate. “Playing for Ireland. That was always the dream for me, so pulling on that shirt for the first time was the most special moment.”
Zambra has a coaching company with her husband, her “day-to-day job” working with girls in schools and keeping an eye out for the next Stephanie Zambra. That’s something she hopes to expand on in the years to come, and she also has plans to “get into football properly” in a coaching capacity.
For now, her sole focus is on getting three points off Shels. After that? “I’ll reflect on it all.”
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