Katie McCabe had two reasons to celebrate as she enjoyed a birthday dinner with partner Caitlin Foord. The Republic of Ireland captain turned 29 on Saturday, a day before she lined out for Arsenal in their Women's Super League clash against Manchester City. The Dubliner toasted her 29th birthday by going out to dinner with partner and club teammate Caitlin Foord at Amazonico London. And when it came to the game against the Citizens, McCabe left her mark as she played an integral role in Beth Mead's dramatic equaliser in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
She shared a photo of herself and Foord during the dinner date to Instagram, alongside a message to Gunners fans. McCabe said: "up and running in red & thank you all for the birthday love x"
Among the plethora of birthday messages that McCabe shared on Saturday was from Foord herself. It featured a beautiful collage of pics from their time together - including snaps from their trip to Rome in May. Both women again figure to be central players for The Gunners during the forthcoming season.
And the Tallaght-native - who was Player of the Match against Man City - showed her worth in helping Jonas Eidevall's men salvaging a 2-2 draw. After putting in a typically crunching tackle on Chloe Kelly, the City and England player was pinned down by Arsenal midfielder Kim Little. This allowed McCabe to hurdle the mass of humanity with the ball at her feet and feed Rosa Kafaji. Her strike then hit the post before Beth Mead equalised in front of 41,000 people.
McCabe's Performance Impresses Arsenal Manager
A delighted Eidevall said of the Irishwoman: “She had a very solid game. It is a great piece of skill on our second goal to set up that situation. Steph Catley not being available, you see how reliable Katie is and has been for us, being able to put in big shifts.” It was a contrast to City manager Graham Taylor, who insisted McCabe had fouled Kelly. He said: “Both the fourth official and the linesman indicated to the radio they agreed it was a foul. Especially the tackle from behind, we were told it was a dangerous tackle - regardless if you get the ball or not. We feel a bit aggrieved on that, but it happens.”
McCabe's Birthday Wishes
Katie McCabe was sent an adorable happy birthday message by her girlfriend Caitlin Foord before Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in their WSL opener. Caitlin Foord has taken to social media to send an adorable happy birthday message to her girlfriend Katie McCabe on her 29th birthday. The Republic of Ireland captain turned 29 over the weekend and was sent dozens of messages on Instagram from fans, teammates and family members. Among the posts that McCabe shared on her Instagram story was one sent by her girlfriend and Arsenal teammate Foord. The Australian striker shared a collage of snaps from moments during their relationship with the caption "My girl. Happy 29th birthday."
After months of speculation, McCabe and Foord went public with their relationship this Summer when the pair shared holiday snaps together during the offseason. With their holidays over, McCabe and Foord played in Arsenal's WSL opener against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday as they, like their male counterparts, opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw against the Cityzens.
McCabe's Busy Summer and Arsenal's Season Ahead
KATIE McCABE celebrated her 29th birthday on Saturday - leaving her duly inundated with happy birthday messages. Among the plethora she shared, the Ireland captain reposted one from her girlfriend and Arsenal teammate Caitlin Foord. It featured a beautiful collage of pics from their time together - including snaps from their trip to Rome in May. Both women again figure to be central players for The Gunners during the forthcoming season.
They'll kick off their WSL campaign today with an eye-catching match-up against last year's runners-up Man City. Arsenal already have a bit of work to do on the European front though as they lost the first leg of their Champions League qualifier to Swedish outfit Hacken on Wednesday. Jonas Eidevall's side will seek to overturn that 1-0 deficit on Thursday when the second leg plays out at Meadow Park.
Interestingly, McCabe said in an interview last week that The Emirates Stadium is set to become the women's team's primary home ground this season. Appearing in a live episode of the Second Captains podcast in London, she noted that Arsenal have continually led the way in progressing the women's game among English clubs. Over the course of her summer break, the Kilnamanagh native was in Paris for the Olympics as she cheered on Foord and The Matildas. During one moment of their scintillating 6-5 win over Zambia she was shown in amongst the crowd.
Amusingly, while everyone else in the Aussie section did their best to capture the spotlight as the TV camera panned across, she seemed keen to keep as low a profile as possible. Her unnecessarily low-key reaction had Irish, Australian and Arsenal supporters alike in stitches. One quipped: “Ireland's captain doesn’t wanna be caught in 4k with her hands in the air for Australia!” Maddy joked: “THE WAY HER FACE IS! (laughing emoji)” Meanwhile another similarly enthusiastically remarked: “I'M DYING AT THIS”. Unfortunately, Tony Gustavsson's outfit crashed out at the group stages for the first time since the Sydney Games of 2000. They were handed a bit of a nightmare draw, however, having been pitted against Euros runners-up Germany as well as perennial powerhouses USA.
McCabe's International Successes and Future Aspirations
The US are now managed by longtime Chelsea supremo Emma Hayes - who went on to claim the gold medal. Australia's premature exit prompted Gustavsson's departure from the job after a four-year stint in charge. Katie McCabe's nearest and dearest rooted out their sweetest snaps to celebrate the soccer star making it another year around the sun. The Dublin woman turned 29 this month. The Arsenal player's rumoured girlfriend Caitlin Foord led the way, taking to social media to post a sweet collage of Katie, who was pictured beaming from ear to ear as she posed at different occasions in all six of the snaps. 'Happy 29th Birthday', Caitlin penned. 'My girl', she added a red love heart emoji. How sweet! The pair, who once avoided posting snaps together, have no problem making their love for one another known on social media.
Some of Katie's ten siblings also took to Instagram to wish their sister a happy birthday, digging out some old snaps of the family from when they were kids. The Irish player's younger sister Jade shared a throwback snap of the pair holding hands, accompanied by a very sweet message. 'Happy birthday big sister, love and miss you all the time', she wrote. Katie's older sister Vanessa joined in all of the fun, digging out some more adorable pics from the archive. Despite having so many siblings to keep up with, the Irish captain is very close with all of her family members, previously telling RSVP that they 'have always been behind me 100%. Katie has been known to be partial to a luxurious sun holiday, so we can likely expect to see a lavish trip abroad to mark the star's milestone birthday coming up next year. Happy birthday Katie!
