Louise Quinn woke up on Monday morning a champion.
She might’ve had a sore – but still “functioning” – head and a hoarse throat after the celebrations of Sunday night but she also had a medal around her neck.
After moving to north London in 2017, the Irish football veteran (and her still only 28) has gone from strength to strength and, now, she’s at the top of English football.
For the first time since 2012, Arsenal clinched the FA Women’s Super League and they did it with a game to spare over an undefeated Man City outfit.
Whilst Katie McCabe racked up her 10th goal of the season and did Ireland proud, her compatriot Quinn was patrolling the heart of the Gunners’ defence with typically uncompromising steel. The rock of Blessington is now an honorary and appreciated rock of Arsenal and, more importantly, she’s a winner.
On the very first episode of PlayXPlay on Monday night, the Irish defender relived the 4-0 win over Brighton that brought the title back to the English capital and the feelings that came with that.
“You know what, it’s very, very nice,” she told host Jenny Murphy.
“To be champions with a team like Arsenal… it seems pretty surreal to be saying something like that but I’m able to do it now.
“It was tough in patches. Defensively, we didn’t have too many troubles but they have some fast players and they were threatening to play some balls over the top and it was definitely hard to break them down.
“We had to just keep moving the ball, keep going and, if you see the goals, they were absolutely quality.”
2️⃣ worldies worthy of winning any title 😱#WeAreTheArsenal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/T4x0bOMVRF
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 28, 2019
In front of a record crowd of 5,265 people, Arsenal bridged a six-year gap and put behind them three third-place finishes in a row.
“It was amazing to be playing in the Amex with the biggest crowd of the season so far. There were a good few Arsenal fans who travelled for the game as well, which was great,” Quinn said before going on to talk about one supporter in particular.
“Maria is an absolute legend. She’s just turned 80 and has been a fan of Arsenal for 70 years and literally comes to every game, men’s and women’s. She’s been right with us the whole season so it was great for us to see her after the game.”
The three points were all the more important because Arsenal’s final game is against Man City who were hot on their tails the whole campaign. With the title already in the bag, there’s nothing riding on the game anymore, just a chance to be the only team to beat City this season.
“The game is in two weeks’ time and to have won the league already before that last game, I think it definitely takes that bit of pressure off.
“And to be able to lift the trophy in front of our fans is going to be special.”
Listen to the full show below.
