Brie Severns enjoying Shels life with Cup Final on the way
By Abby Whelan
After signing with Shelbourne back in February of this year, we look at Brie Severns' career to up to this point, from the NCAA to the League of Ireland as she looks forward to a Women's All-Island Cup Final this Saturday night at Tolka.
The US-born striker’s love from football was inspired by those around her in her childhood, she describes, “My mom played soccer when she was in college and my three older sisters played soccer so it was kind of seeing them go through it and I always had a soccer ball around the house.
“I always loved kicking things, I was a nuisance around the house so then my parents know immediately to put me in soccer!”
It didn’t take Severns long to realise that there was a strong possibility of a successful career in the sport. She describes these early parts of her journey, “Probably around when I was the age of 13/14, I was kind of like oh, I want to be serious with this with seeing your national team play and that’s when the league in the States became really big and popular so seeing that growing up kind of sparked a goal in me to get that far.
“So, I would say kind of early on I always took it seriously but then I knew I wanted to go play at university and then I knew I wanted to play after that.”
Severns stuck with this dream and later followed in her mother’s footsteps and developed her game in the NCAA , where she racked up a total of four season with Kansas University and a season in both Texas A&M and Miami University.
The young striker shares how some of her fondest times in her collegiate career were sparked by being underestimated by others. She says, “Anytime in University where we were seen as the ‘underdogs’ and we would upset a ranked team or beat the team that everybody thought we would have lost to, I think that just builds huge team morale and team confidence.
“It kind of gives you a self-confidence of I can play against these girls who may be better than me or a team that may be better than me but I held my own and I competed and did that, I think those types of games, those moments are my favourite.”
Her move to Ireland has not without some adaptions to her style of play as Severns points out some key differences with playing in Ireland versus in the USA, “It’s a lot more physical over there whereas over here I can see a lot more girls being very technical, being very good one on one on the ball.
“I think that helps me a lot and gives me a huge advantage with my strength background and then playing around girls who are better than me technically also makes me better and makes me want to be better so it’s a perfect situation.
In the short time she has been here, Severns has made a strong impact on and off the pitch and has had crucial moments for her side in the season so far. A standout moment among these is her recent hatrick in the second round of the Club Orange Women's FAI Cup against Bray Wanderers where she helped her team move to the next stage in the competition.
While Shelbourne are in full swing in this 2026 season, Severns took a moment to reflect on her time with the Reds and says, “I’ve really enjoyed it. The girls from Shels have been amazing I think the league has been very challenging at some parts but also has in a way led me to gain self confidence in my play and as a person.
“Being able to take this first step into my professional career, I think was perfect and the atmosphere at Shels that we have is just a family so it’s so much easier to step in as a rookie and succeed.”
Alongside her end goal of holding up a cup by the end of the season, Severns points out a few important goals of hers in her first season in Tolka Park, “I want to make lots of memories, lots of friends, I hope to continue to have a successful season at Shels and that I can continue to contribute to that success.”
