"They're the moments that you nearly pinch yourself...as a young girl growing up or early on in the league, I would never have imagined this was possible."
Shelbourne captain Pearl Slattery is not easily fazed but as she relayed at last month's launch of the new League of Ireland season, it's hard not to step back and take in the growth of the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division over the last 10-15 years.
The new campaign kicks off on Saturday with a new club, Waterford FC, taking the division up to 12 teams and huge anticipation about another competitive season after Athlone Town won their maiden title by pipping a chasing pack led by powerhouses Shelbourne in 2024.
Rachel Graham was part of the Shels team that laid down a marker by thrashing Athlone in last November's FAI Cup final and then edged to a 2-1 win in last Saturday's curtain-raising President's Cup decider.
Like her long-time team-mate Slattery, who is also 35, the former Republic of Ireland international has had a front row seat as the women's domestic game has blossomed and is keen to enjoy that burgeoning growth for as long as possible.
"In the first 5-6 years it was very much in its infancy and wouldn't have had many crowds. It was more friends and family at games and even the stadiums weren't that great.
"So to see how far it's come now is brilliant and like Pearl said, it makes it very hard to retire. Myself and Pearl are 35, this year we turn 36, so we know our days are limited but we're just making the most of it.
"We're keeping each other going at the moment. We do all our off-season running together, push each other through pre-season.
"So we're still keeping up, we're still there and thereabouts but (Pearl) said as well about growing the crowds.
"We personally noticed a drop-off in crowds at our games last year and it was something that we were targeting for this year, so we've moved our kick-off time.
"We used to play at two o'clock (on Saturdays) but we've moved to a four o'clock kick-off now and that was from feedback from fans that we got that the two o'clock was just a bit early, so we're hoping to improve our crowds.
"But like she was saying, it's great crowds. We played Galway, Sligo... it makes such a difference if there's an atmosphere at the game and even (at President's Cup), there were 600 at the game but it feels like there are thousands for us in Tolka, the stand is right on the pitch, so even that few hundred feels like a lot."
The progress can also be felt when it comes to the spotlight from media that was not there to anywhere near the same extent in the early days.
"Even the first few years, we would never have done an interview," Graham recalled.
"I actually remember doing my first radio interview and I was terrified to do it, and I actually begged my sister to do it for me, 'Will you just pretend to be me'. I was just so terrified.
"It was just so completely alien to any of us. We grew up playing in St Anne's Park in Raheny where we carried the nets down to the pitch ourselves and put them up and took them down. That's where we came from.
"And that was 17, 18, 19, that wasn't us as young players. So it was just completely alien to us but it's great for all the young players coming through now that they have a consistent pathway of League of Ireland and they're exposed to playing the best teams in the country, best players in the country.
"So it has grown so much, but again, we can always push to get it better."
The long-term ambition of the FAI is to see more clubs join the league and to then split it into two tiers.
But Méabh De Búrca, who won the Cup with Galway in 2007, believes that prospect remains some years away from fruition as it stands.
"Those plans are definitely in place but I personally don't agree with it," she said.
"I don't think we have enough quality throughout the country yet to have a second tier of women's football.
"But not even that, it's the cost also involved. You wonder how many clubs would want to commit to that.
"The players who want to commit are playing already in the Women's Premier Division and there are an awful lot of good local leagues around the country too and the girls then they have that outlet, like local players here they're able to play while also having a good balance in their own lives.
"But I don't know how many clubs would want to be travelling up and down the country every second weekend to play matches.
"So it will be interesting to see how that pans out but I just don't know that we're there yet and ready for the second tier.
"The league itself has progressed since it started in 2011 and I think it's a really good product now and I think we just need to keep nurturing the Women's Premier Division."
