Tara O'Hanlon learning to love football again after injury setbacks

Michael Bolton

After being out of action for over two years with multiple injuries, Tara O'Hanlon finally made her first start in October after 862 days.

During her Peamount United days, the Ireland defender's displays were gaining the attention of clubs in England, and Manchester City signed her in 2024.

In what was a huge move that saw Ms O'Hanlon sign her first professional contract, the next 18 months that followed were filled with injuries and setbacks, which Ms O'Hanlon admitted were difficult to deal with.

Following a loan move to Sunderland until January, she made her return to the pitch to end a cruel, difficult time out injured.

Speaking to Breaking News.ie, she described the mental toll injuries had on her.

"Any athlete who goes through injuries will say it's not easy physically, but mentally, for me was probably the hardest.

"I felt like I was putting in the work, I was doing my best, it almost felt like with every setback, it wasn't good enough, and something was going wrong.

"It was five injuries altogether. It almost felt like it got to a point where I feared coming back because I thought something else was going to go wrong.

"To try and shape that mentality and get back to being myself and get back fully fit, that was quite hard."

In order to get some first team minutes, Ms O'Hanlon joined the Irish contingent at Sunderland, where the focus was falling back in love with football once again.

"One of the big things with this loan was to get my minutes back up because I hadn't played so long.

"I spoke to the Director of Football at City, and she just told me to love football again. Being out for two years, l had kind of fallen out of love with the game."

Three hamstring tears, an operation, another hamstring injury, an MCL injury, along with another tear and a lot of rehab, summed up Ms O'Hanlon's time in England so far.

With no luck on her side and setback after setback, it stopped her progress in what was a huge move.

The former Peamount defender was keen to hit the ground running and prove to people why Manchester City signed her, but was unable to.

"When I moved to England, I was on such a high because I just signed my first professional contract. Things were going well, and I was so happy.

"All I had to do was start a month of rehab, and I would be able to start my career as a professional, my dream. Everything just started going wrong.

"I know everyone has expectations of me. I was looking forward to going over there and proving to everyone and myself that this is why City had signed me, I was good enough.

"When you are not able to do the one thing you are over there to do, that was really hard on me. I felt like I was letting myself down and letting people down, when in reality, it was just shi*t luck.

"No one knows the full story. I can't know what they are thinking. For all they know, I have signed for City, but I haven't played in two years. She's not good enough to get into a squad, all these things were in my head."

In what was a truly difficult time in her life, both mentally and physically, Ms O'Hanlon was thankful for her support network around her, especially in the darkest of days when she needed the support the most.

"It was the people around me who picked me up. Friends, family, teammates at City massively, my agent, the staff there.

"I remember the amount of times I would go in not wanting to be there not wanting to do my session. Then when I go in, the girls are putting a smile on my face, my physios are picking me up.

"When you are with these people for four or five hours a day, they can tell if I am not at my best. On the days I was not I could not give it everything, they picked up the sack.

"It massively helped because I felt like I wasn't alone."

In another boost, O'Hanlon was named in the Republic of Ireland's women's squad for the first time in two-and-a-half years for their upcoming friendly against Hungary.

After Carla Ward's side were promoted to League A of the UEFA Nations League, and the heroics of the men's National team, it is a great time to be part of an Ireland set-up.

With World Cup qualifiers in March, O'Hanlon has a clear path to aim for, but is taking it one step at a time.

"Playing for your country is an honour, and I have been lucky enough to be able to do it twice, and hopefully I will be able to get to do it many more times.

"I am living in the now, I am grateful to be in this camp, we will see what else comes in this camp.

"The vibes in the camp seem great. I know from the girls when they come back from camp and talk about it, it seems like a real togetherness and one unit and everyone is on the same page."