Aimee Mackin

Aimee Mackin (born 22 April 1997) is an Irish dual code footballer from Camlough in County Armagh. In association football she has played for Women's Premiership clubs Newry City and Sion Swifts, and represented the Northern Ireland women's national football team at both youth and senior level. She also played ladies' Gaelic football for Shane O'Neill's GAC and at senior level for Armagh GAA, competing in the Ladies' National Football League and All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship. She was named the 2020 TG4 Senior Player's Player of the Year.[3]

Aimee Mackin
Mackin playing soccer for Northern Ireland in May 2014
Born (1997-04-22) 22 April 1997
Camlough, Northern Ireland
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Ladies' Gaelic football career
Personal information
Sport Ladies' Gaelic football
Position Forward
Club(s)
Years Club
 Shane O'Neill's GAC
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2015–
 Armagh
Inter-county titles
All Stars 3
Association football career
Position(s) Midfielder / Forward
Youth career
Bessbrook
Camlough Rovers[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Newry City
2018–2019 Sion Swifts
International career‡
2013–2015 Northern Ireland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:25, 22 October 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:25, 22 October 2022 (UTC)
Australian rules football career
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2023– Melbourne 0 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the end of season seven.

Soccer career

Club career

In September 2015, Newry City won the Northern Ireland Women's Premier League, when Mackin scored a dramatic last-minute winner over Mid-Ulster Ladies.[4] Mackin signed for Sion Swifts in March 2018 after Newry City withdrew from the Women's Premiership.[5]

Youth

In 2011 Mackin was called up to represent Northern Ireland at under-15 schoolgirl level while she attended St Paul's High School, Bessbrook.[6] In April 2012 she was a key player in the team which retained the Bob Docherty Cup.[7] By the following season she was participating for the Northern Ireland women's national under-17 football team in their 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification series.[8]

In February 2015 Mackin scored a hat-trick for the Northern Ireland women's national under-19 football team in a 9–1 win over Estonia at Solitude.[9]

Senior

Mackin made her senior debut for Northern Ireland in October 2013, during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign.[10] She was still 16 years old when she scored against Estonia in March 2014.[11]

Gaelic football career

From a prominent Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) family, Mackin's father Michael served as a coach and chairman of Shane O'Neill's GAC where Aimee and her five siblings all played.[12] Aimee was among four of the siblings to progress to senior inter-county football with Armagh.[12] She made her debut in 2015 and won All Star honours following a series of promising performances. She won another All Star in 2017, before her progress was derailed by an anterior cruciate ligament injury in July 2019.[13]

After a period of rehabilitation Mackin stopped playing soccer to focus on Gaelic football.[14] Exceptional form on her return led to her winning the 2020 TG4 Senior Player's Player of the Year.[15][16]

Personal life

Mackin attended St Paul's High School, Bessbrook[12] and Ulster University at Jordanstown.[17]

In 2022 Mackin's sister and Armagh team-mate Bláithín signed for AFL Women's club Melbourne Football Club, but Aimee decided to remain in Ireland: "I'm probably a bit of a homebird so playing Gaelic is the priority for me at the minute."[18] At the time she was employed as a classroom assistant at her alma mater St Paul's High School.[14]

References
  1. "Meet the U16 Ladies Management & Squad…". St Paul's High School, Bessbrook. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  2. "Aimee Mackin making waves in the world of ladies' football". The Irish News. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  3. "Aimee Mackin beats Dublin duo to 2020 Player of the Year award". Irish Examiner. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  4. "Magnificent Newry win title". Newry Democrat. 15 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. "Sion Swifts swoop for Aimee Mackin". Ulster Gazette. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  6. "Aimee goes International". St Paul's High School, Bessbrook. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. "Ireland lose out in Bob Docherty Cup to their Northern counterparts". FAI Schools. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  8. "Aimee Represents Northern Ireland". St Paul's High School, Bessbrook. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  9. Luney, Graham (17 February 2015). "Northern Ireland girls dressed to the nines as Estonia are hammered". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  10. James, Laure (31 October 2013). "Women's World Cup Qualifier: Northern Ireland count cost of missed opportunities". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2022. Striker Aimee Mackin, who is only 16 and made her senior debut last night, stood out for Northern Ireland with her battling tenacity along the left flank, showing leadership across the front of the team.
  11. Morrison, Neil; Gandini, Luca; Simões 'Kaizeler', João; Villante, Eric (27 August 2020). "Oldest and Youngest Players and Goal-scorers in International Football". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  12. Duffy, Emma (9 March 2021). "'If you could bottle Aimee's talent and sell that stuff, we would be millionaires'". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  13. Rooney, Declan (14 November 2020). "The four siblings hoping to lead Armagh to glory - one having just returned from a serious knee injury". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  14. Duffy, Emma (14 June 2022). "The importance of Armagh ladies' new home and 'strictly Gaelic' amid AFLW interest". The42.ie. TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  15. McIntyre, Niall (23 February 2021). "Marvellous Mackin turned cruciate nightmare into her platform to stardom". Joe. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  16. Bogue, Declan (6 March 2021). "Armagh star Aimee Mackin's stellar recovery from ACL horror worthy of a trophy itself". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  17. Campbell, John (12 April 2019). "Hot-shot Mackin hits the target with top honour". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  18. "Aimee Mackin to remain put as sister confirms AFLW move". RTÉ Sport. 15 June 2022.
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