Anna Patten was given two pieces of advice by her grandfather.
The first: find the place you feel supported.
The second: start further out, time your run, then attack the box — “that way they’ll never catch you.”
When Patten’s 90th-minute header sailed beyond France goalkeeper Constance Picaud in July, securing the Republic of Ireland their only win of the 2025 European Championship qualifying campaign’s group stage, these pieces of advice flashed to mind.
There was no doubt the Aston Villa centre-back had found her place. Despite only gaining international clearance to swap England — whom she represented at several youth levels — for Ireland in April, Patten started all but one of their six qualifiers for head coach Eileen Gleeson as part of a back three.
But the goal, her first for Ireland and in front of an 18,000-plus crowd in Cork to seal a 3-1 win, was particularly special. “My granddad always wanted me to score more. Goalscorers get the glory,” the 25-year-old tells The Athletic. “I was always like, ‘Granddad. I’m a centre-back. I don’t get those opportunities much’.”
Then she smiles. “But I’d say I attacked that ball pretty well. It was easy to dedicate the goal to him.”
Patten’s grandfather, Donald Coyle, did not get to see her heed his advice, having passed away last year. His absence, though, was also his presence. Patten qualifies for Ireland via his roots in Donegal, a town in the north-west of the country. She decided to represent Ireland after his death.
“He was the biggest role model in my life,” Patten says. “He was the best granddad. The best person ever.”
Patten with her grandfather Donald, who inspired her to play for Ireland (photo courtesy of Anna Patten)
Patten hopes to manifest his advice again as Ireland contest a two-leg Euro 2025 playoff semi-final against Georgia over the next few days. Victory from the tie, with the first leg today (Friday) in Tbilisi and the decider on Tuesday in Dublin, would secure a two-leg final a month later against Wales or Slovakia, with a place in the Switzerland-hosted tournament next summer on the line.
For a nation whose women only made their major tournament bow at the 2023 World Cup, back-to-back qualifications would represent a seismic statement.
The play-off route is familiar territory for Ireland, having taken it to reach the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It’s one that brings challenges. Two-legged ties demand consistency, and the Irish are without Birmingham City centre-half Louise Quinn and Lazio midfielder Megan Connolly for this semi-final because of hip and hamstring injuries respectively. Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan is also going to miss the first leg, due to a one-match suspension. Patten, though, likes the odds.
Ireland’s group campaign was arduous. They lost five of their six games against England, France and Sweden, all top-10 FIFA-ranked sides, but their League A status provided this play-off spot, and that victory against the French in the final match is testament to their growth and tenacity. “Playing for Ireland, it’s about giving everything in games,” says Patten. “That desire to go hard, to believe in yourself whomever you’re up against. That grit showed against France and in our other games when we were going toe to toe with opponents.”
The spirit is something Patten says she learned from her grandfather.
Having moved to England as a young man, Donald and his wife built a life for their four children. He found construction work across London or in mines outside the city, often leaving his family for months in order to provide for them. Eventually, he began his own building firm in north-west London. Unable to read or write, he asked Patten’s mum and her three siblings to create business cards to hand out around the local area.
“Word spread of his work ethic,” Patten says, her voice solemn with admiration. “How he always left each job better than the last, how he was always there for people, whatever they needed. He worked until his late seventies — full-on truth. Climbing ladders and onto roofs, doing extensions or sorting someone’s chimney out. His mindset was something else.”
Patten channelled a similar mindset in recent months. Her first camp away with Ireland was defined by an underlying intimidation she could not shake: “I kept thinking, ‘You should embrace this more. You know you can compete at this level. Own it’.”
Patten playing for Ireland against England in April (Paul Faith / AFP/Getty Images)
Scoring against France, as she won her sixth cap, brought peace: “To get that goal, at the end of it all, to celebrate with a win with everyone, it felt full circle for me.”
Her journey to playing for Ireland was years in the making. A former Arsenal youth player, Patten was called up to train with the club’s senior squad, where she joined former Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne and current Ireland captain Katie McCabe.
“There was chat back then, a kind of, ‘Let’s make you aware’ chat,” Patten says. “When I came to making the decision this year, I had a really good conversation with Katie (McCabe) about it all. I knew Ruesha (Littlejohn, a midfielder for Ireland) from Villa too. I valued her opinion a lot. Then obviously big conversations with Eileen (Gleeson). Those were the most impactful.”
Gleeson, who officially took over from Vera Pauw last December after the former head coach’s contract was not renewed following the World Cup, is hailed by Patten for her player-focused approach to management and the culture she has fostered after reports of disquiet last summer.
“She really took the time out to have chats with me individually when I came in, asking how I was, what she could do to help me settle in,” Patten says. “She has chats with everyone. I appreciate that because when you feel comfortable within that environment, then your performances improve as a result. That’s a really important aspect of team culture, especially in women’s football.”
An emerging theme in Patten’s career is her ability to find such environments. It is here that her grandfather’s advice echoes once again, as it did in the early days of Patten’s career as she vied to break through the crowded defensive ranks at Arsenal.
“After I left Arsenal, he always said, ‘That’s great. Good job, Anna’,” says Patten, who joined Villa in 2023 after a positive 18-month loan spell with the Birmingham club.
“He loved to see me playing football, being happy. He loved coaches who supported me. He didn’t know football necessarily,” she says with a laugh, “but he knew the value in that.”
Patten’s past seven months have been contoured by big coaching changes, most recently the appointment of Robert de Pauw after long-time Villa manager Carla Ward’s summer exit. Life under the Dutchman so far has been mixed. Villa are winless in the Women’s Super League after five games, a 2-1 away defeat against leaders Manchester City last Sunday consigning them to a third defeat in those matches.
“There’s a level of frustration of not getting more points, where I felt like we probably could have in games,” Patten says. “People can say, ‘Oh, but you performed well!’. That’s not what you want as a player. You want to get those three points.”
Patten playing for Villa against Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Teething problems are expected as De Pauw implements a dynamic, possession-based playing philosophy, which is a change from Ward’s defensive style. Having grown up idolising ball-playing defenders such as Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid, Patten prefers De Pauw’s way and finds the heightened responsibility of dictating play from the centre of a back three invigorating. “When everything starts to fit into place, more wins come out of that. We’re close,” she says.
With Ireland too, things feel close. Patten knows it will still be strange not to see Donald on the terraces at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday, or knowing he is not watching the match from home, with her brothers having gone around to her grandparents’ place to set up a live stream, as they always did for her games.
“One of the biggest emotional days for my mum was watching me play on my Ireland debut,” she says. “After the game, we were hugging and crying — happy tears, obviously. To hear the anthem at the Aviva Stadium, the crowd roaring, my granny being there. That was so special.”
Four games still stand between Ireland and Euro 2025. If they qualify, the emotions will be even greater for Patten, who has become a key cog in Gleeson’s defence. She knows her grandfather will be beside her in spirit, but if he could be there in person, she knows his celebration of choice would honour the occasion perfectly.
“Every day when he came in from work, he’d crack open a can of Guinness,” Patten says. “When I was younger, that was my job: to get the Guinness. The next morning, we’d make pancakes for my brothers. So if we qualify, I know he’d have a cracked open can of Guinness and a plate of pancakes, just for me.”
(Top photo: Patten after Ireland beat France; Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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