Michelle O'Neill: From local pitches to World Cup and Champions League finals

Michelle O'Neill says leading teams out at the 2019 Women's World Cup final was a dream come true

All Michelle O'Neill wanted to do was improve football in her local area. Now, she's one of the top assistant referees in world football.

It's a journey that has taken her from pitches in Wexford to a World Cup final, Champions League final, the Olympics and a historic, ground-breaking outing at the Uefa Super Cup.

After a rapid rise up the officiating ladder, the pinnacle of her career came at the 2019 World Cup, where she was selected to be on the touchline for the final in France.

O'Neill admits she still gets goosebumps thinking about the moment she led out eventual winners USA and the Netherlands on the sport's biggest stage.

"There are so many emotions but you really have to catch yourself and stay grounded in that moment," she recalled.

"Standing there and looking out, listening to the music ready to lead out the teams going, 'I am actually walking out into my dream'.

"It is emotional, but you know you are there to do a job and you are going out there to be the best that you can be.

"It's after the final whistle when all the emotions come rushing in. You are pinching yourself at the thought of having done it.

"It was a huge honour to be there and to do that. It brings me so much pride."

O'Neill made history when she was part of the first female officating team to take charge of a major men's final in the Uefa Super Cup in 2019

Following the World Cup, she was selected for the 2019 Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea, becoming part of the first trio of female match officials to take charge of a major men's final.

Traditionally, officials only get to be in charge for one World Cup final in their careers but that hasn't stopped O'Neill from dreaming as she gets ready for her third edition of the tournament.

"You have to have a target and have to have a dream. I will keep pushing to try and be the best at the tournament.

"If Ireland are in the final then that means I'm definitely not in the final, it depends who is there really so there are a few different variations.

"At the end of the day, we are there to go out an do the best we can and back up our colleagues who are making decisions. I will always push to be at the top of my game."

Swapping the boots for the flag

O'Neill's move into officiating came after she reluctantly ended her playing career in 2008.

Within a year of taking it up, O'Neill had been selected for the Football Association of Ireland's school of excellence, and she had made the elite panel for referees in Ireland just one-and-a-half years into a two-year course.

She was consistently officiating all over Ireland and was a rare female official in the men's League of Ireland, where she can still be seen outside of international duty. From there, she caught the eye of Fifa in 2011 and embarked on her first World Cup just four years later.

"There's not many women doing it so I just wanted to get involved. I never even thought I was going to be on the League of Ireland," the Wexford official added.

"I thought I missed the boat, I didn't even dream that the world was out there and was a possibility until the FAI came knocking on my door and I was nominated was the school of excellence, and then I went from there.

"I never even thought it was possible and now I'm trying to pave the way for others and show there is a pathway there."

O'Neill is a regular on the touchlines of both the men's and women's games in Ireland

She admits being a player who transitioned into refereeing has helped her be so successful in her career, saying it helps her deal with any questions or criticisms from the players.

"You have to have an understanding of football. It's one of the key elements to becoming a successful referee, having that feel for the game, the understanding about player mentality and the emotions involved.

"I put myself back in my playing shoes, going 'I used to ask the same questions'. Why was that a foul? How was that a free-kick? It might have come across that I was always in a referee's face but it wasn't the intention, it was because I was fascinated and wanted to learn more.

"That is the type of referee it made me into. When players ask me questions, I answer them.

"You know when a player steps over that line then it is none of the above, so then you have to deal with it."

For the first time ever, O'Neill will not be the only Irish woman at the World Cup as Vera Pauw's side qualified for their first major tournament.

Whether you are a player or official, it is a positive time to be involved in women's football in the country.

"The face of women's football in Ireland is totally changing. It's growing and growing, not even 100%, it's like 300%.

"In the first World Cup I was involved with in 2015, you come home and nobody even knew there was a World Cup on. Now, everyone is wearing the Irish jersey and everyone is talking about it.

"The Irish team are so inspirational right now and have little kids looking up to them. They can be a footballer now and that is something I never had as a kid."