Anne O'Brien was born in Dublin on the 25th of January 1956 but sadly passed away in Rome on the 29th of August 2016. She will forever be remembered as one of the country's greatest ever female footballers.
A talented midfielder, she played for a Dublin club called All Stars before joining Reims in France in 1973 and for Trani, Lazio, Reggiana and AC Milan in Italy in a lengthy playing career that stretched from the 1960s to the 1990s. She also played for Modena, Napoli and Prato.
O'Brien won six Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia winner’s medals. She later turned her hand to coaching including spells with Civitavecchia, Lazio and the Italian national U17 team. Italian women's football legend Carolina Morace paid tribute to Anne as one of the greatest players ever to play in Italy.
Her international career was limited to the four caps over an 18-year spell as it coincided with a time when the Women's Football Association of Ireland was a separate organisation to the FAI and had restricted resources.
