Northern Ireland women’s football fans can watch their team’s first game in the UEFA Women’s Nations League live on BBC Sport NI. The match against the Republic of Ireland will occur at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, 23 September, at 1 p.m.
The game will debut new Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby, appointed last month after leading Chelsea Women to the FA Women’s Super League title. Oxtoby hopes to build on the historic achievement of qualifying for the European Championship 2022, which will be held in England next summer.
The UEFA Women’s Nations League is a new competition that aims to provide more competitive and meaningful matches across Europe for women’s national teams. It is divided into four leagues (A, B, C, and D) based on the UEFA women’s national team coefficient rankings. Each block consists of four groups of three or four teams, who play each other home and away. Leagues B, C, and D group winners are promoted, while the last-placed teams of Leagues A, B, and C are relegated. The group winners of League A qualify for the UEFA Women’s Nations League Finals, which will take place in June 2024.
Northern Ireland is in League B Group B1, with the Republic of Ireland, Albania, and Slovakia. They will play six games, three at home and three away. Their second game will be against Albania at Seaview in Belfast on Tuesday, 26 September, at 7 p.m. This game will also be streamed live by BBC Sport NI.
BBC Sport NI will provide comprehensive coverage of both games on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport NI website bbc.co.uk/sportni. Thomas Kane will be the commentator for both games.
Northern Ireland women’s team captain Marissa Callaghan said she was delighted that the BBC will broadcast the games. She said: “It’s fantastic news that our games will be shown live on BBC Sport NI. It means a lot to us as players and our fans, who have supported us throughout our journey. We hope they will tune in and cheer us on as we start a new chapter in our history under Tanya Oxtoby.”
BBC Sport NI editor Neil Brittain proudly showcased the Northern Ireland women’s team on their platform. He said: “We are delighted to be able to bring live coverage of Northern Ireland women’s first two games in the UEFA Women’s Nations League to our audiences. The team has been inspirational in their recent achievements, and we look forward to following their progress in this new competition. We hope our coverage will help raise the profile and popularity of women’s football in Northern Ireland and beyond.”
Originally posted 2023-09-20 16:43:01.
