A pitch battle as Mairead takes on Franc in Celebrity Bainisteoir

Aoife Anderson

MAIREAD FARRELL has put her marriage heartbreak behind her and taken up football with astonishing results.

The stunning Today FM beauty has taken on the role of Celebrity Bainisteoir, and is clearly revelling in it.

As our exclusive pictures show, the glamorous mum-of-one (30) has no qualms about hitting the pitch for pre-match preparations with her team the Ballymun Kickhams.

Mairead told the Herald she is busy juggling her job as coach for the hit RTE reality series along with her day job on the Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM and her young son.

And by the looks of things, she couldn't be more serious about winning the competition ahead of the second episode of the RTE series on Sunday night.

A spokesperson for the club revealed: "Mairead instantly immersed herself into both the team and the club, with her son participating in the club's academy summer camp, and Mairead attending, and slowly beginning to take over the training sessions for the team. The training however, hit an all time high in intensity stakes, when mentor to Mairead and Dublin legend Ciaran Whelan attended a mid-week training session. The professionalism and intensity of that session had not only the team exhausted, but most of the onlookers exhausted also."

Episode two will see Mairead take on TV wedding planner Peter Kelly (aka Franc) in a battle between country and city as her Dublin team take on Fermoy GFC.

And as a lifelong boys in blue supporter, she hopes to be the first celebrity to bring a Dublin team beyond the quarter finals, and do better than her radio boss Ray D'Arcy. He took the reins of the Kildare team last year but was knocked out after one game.

aanderson@herald.ie