Shelbourne striker Jemma Quinn has traversed a unique path in making a return to the Champions League stage.
The WNL club begin their European odyssey next Wednesday (6 September) when they take on Glasgow City in Lithuania.
If Noel King's side defeat the current Scottish league champions, they will face the winners of FC Gintra (Lithuania) or Cardiff City (Wales) in the same venue as the Tolka Park outfit look to progress in this year's UEFA Women’s Champions League.
For 32-year-old Quinn, it is another step in a remarkable journey.
Growing up in the predominantly working-class area of Belcamp on the northside of Dublin, Quinn overcame numerous obstacles in early life.
Playing football at all was an early one, as girls in St Joseph’s primary school in Bonnybrook, were banned from the football yard until protests from Quinn and her friends convinced the school hierarchy to abolish the divide.
Quinn’s early teenage years were spent playing football on the streets of Belcamp and with the boys team at local club Saint Columban’s before linking up with current manager Noel King at Stella Maris, a club located in the shadow of Shelbourne’s home ground Tolka Park.
"It was a great group of girls, and we had international players like Aine O’Gorman and Stephanie Roche," she tells RTÉ Sport, "but at that time, we weren’t being looked after.
"There was an under-16 boys team and they had a lot more support around them. It was very, very difficult and then at the age of 19 or 20, I just completely lost interest. There was nothing for me.
"There was no incentive for me to stay, no support networks, no sports psychologists. It’s so important now for clubs to have those supports for young girls coming up."
Quinn’s relationship with football quickly vanished.
"Drinking was a big part of me coming into that age. I was a big drinker and boys and stuff like that. I also went to college to study an outdoor adventure management course and I did a small bit of travelling.
"I was just having a bit more fun to be honest and football never came into my mind. I used to watch football 24/7 but then I really lost interest."
If it wasn’t for her best friend Natalie Walsh, Quinn isn’t sure where she would be today. A decade had passed, and it wasn’t until her early thirties that she began playing football again.
I was still drinking, but then I made a life decision for myself. I wanted to take a little bit of a different direction in life
Persuasion from Natalie, coupled with Killester FC and Donnycarney FC amalgamating thanks to the perseverance of coaches like Thomas Heary to create a strong underage women’s structure in the club, convinced the talented star to return her first love, football.
"I used to turn up every now and again, I probably spent half a season coming and going," she admits.
"I was still drinking, but then I made a life decision for myself. I wanted to take a little bit of a different direction in life and gave up drinking and haven’t drank in a long time."
Things changed on the pitch too. Killester-Donnycarney started to earn promotions. The club recently lined out in Tallaght Stadium against Shamrock Rovers in the first round of the Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup.
A notable achievement for a club less than five years in existence.
"I started training well and we started to win games and I started to love it. The camaraderie is amazing. Not just football, you know, they supported me a lot through a lot of stuff in my life. I have a story there and a lot of them would know the full extent of it.
"I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls."
After rising through the ranks, Quinn received a phone call out of the blue from former manager King asking her to sign for Shelbourne in February 2022.
"I was like a child in a group of professionals. That’s what it felt like for me. The standard was so different and seeing these 15 and 16-year-olds having such talent. I didn’t know about any of this because I’d been away for so long.
"The first training session was bad. I’d gone from one of the best players on a team to the worst player on the team. It’s been a journey, but I loved every moment of it."
From the brink of never playing football again after her teenage years to representing the current League of Ireland and FAI Cup champions on Europe’s biggest stage, overcoming a variety of challenges is the story of Jemma Quinn.
The Dubliner believes the pathway is now so much more welcoming for young girls playing football.
"Depending on the area you come from, your environment can be a big factor, but I would say to younger girls, look at that Ireland World Cup squad.
"When you were watching those girls on the television, or you went to see them live in Tallaght before they went, what feelings did you get?
"Bring them back and keep bringing them back. Believe in yourself and ask yourself, do you want to be standing there singing our national anthem and playing against the top players in the world?
"Look at the people who done it before you and believe in yourself and dream big."
Quinn insists that becoming part of a team has so many other benefits.
"You will learn discipline. You’ll learn about nutrition and sports science. You’ll learn how to treat yourself right, how to treat your body right, how to treat your mind right.
"I came back as a 32-year-old, the ball pinging off me like a pinball, and I'm going to play in the Champions League for a second time.
"If a 32-year-old washed up player can do that, what are your limits? There are no limits."
If Shelbourne progress from the first qualifying round of the Champions League, they will learn their opponents on 15 September for their next European test.
Shels, just like Jemma Quinn, are still exploring where their limits are.
