10-07-2025
Katie Taylor's football career: Famous teammates, caps and scholarship option
Katie Taylor is world-famous for her stellar boxing career, having earned her place on Ireland's Mount Rushmore of sporting talent.
But she was also known at one stage for her football exploits, having earned eleven caps for the Ireland senior women's national team before focusing solely on her boxing career.
She scored two long-range efforts during her time with the Girls in Green against Hungary and Italy, in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Indeed, speaking to SportsJOE in 2022, she revealed that at one stage football was her preferred sport.
She said: "I think at one stage during my teenage years, it was probably my number one sport, and I was thinking about pursuing it professionally at some point.
"But obviously, eventually, the boxing hit and there was no real competition about which sport I was going to choose."
She began her football career with St. Fergal's and Newtown Juniors, both local sides in Bray. She regularly played boys football throughout her underage career, lining out for Wicklow in the Kennedy Cup in 2000.
In a 2019 interview with Sky Sports, Taylor revealed that she had received offers to play college football in the United States.
She said: "I did have a chance to get a football scholarship over in America when I left school, but boxing was always my number one passion.
"I knew I had to choose between the two sports and I obviously chose boxing."
Stephanie Zambra, Aine O'Gorman and Niamh Fahey are among the undisputed super-lightweight world champion's former teammates.
