Women's Premier Division 2025

[cl�irseach]

Welcome to the second annual WPD thread!

Ken Kiernan left Bohemians last nigt, which was unexpected, to say the least. They had a very young team last year, were a little inconsistent, but looked like they were on the right path.

I wonder if his resignation has anything to do with the vacancy left by new Dundalk men's manager Ciaran Kilduff in Athlone? Ken was Ciar�n's assistant there before taking the Bohs job.

Elsewhere there are vacancies in Wexford, Peamount and Sligo, as well as at new arrivals Waterford. Treaty have also swapped bosses, so more clubs (7) will have a new face in the dugout than a returning one (5), though we might see some familiar faces like Gary Hunt or Alban Hysa returning.

[cl�irseach]

Steve Feeney now announced for a return to Sligo Rovers.

[cl�irseach]

Chaos i gCorcaight as Danny Murphy is no longer manager. Seems previously to be some unhappiness about the preparations for the season, rumours of the club not backing the women's team have been circulating for a while now. Is that something to do with it?

Perhaps it could benefit newcomers Waterford, however they appear to be at-least partially outsourcing their new side to an external consortium and giving it a separate name, crest etc.

[ForzaForth]

With the President�s Cup this weekend, just putting up my 2025 predictions. Was pleased with my call of Athlone for league winners last season, but this time I�ve gone for Shelbourne as the safe bet. Overall, I see a top six and a bottom six. In order as follows:-

Shelbourne: Couple of key departures but still look very strong. If their two new North American signings (Anthony and Del Pico) can have the same influence as the two that have left � Pierce and Gray � they should go very close. A midfield of close to international quality with Kavanagh, McLaughlin and Clancy. A possible weakness down their left side with an apparent absence of left-sided players.
Athlone: Second place may depend on the effect of their two big new signings � Izzy Groves from Lionesses and Kelly Brady. Any team with the exceptional Madie Gibson must be respected. Departure of excellent netminder, Katie Keane, may cost them points.
Wexford: Don�t expect too much of a gap between the next three. Return of Ellen Molloy and new arrival of the excellent Aoife Kelly should add a lot of ability to the team. The returning Lauren Dwyer is a big addition to the defence. Key position is that of striker where Rianna Jarrett and the very young Leah McGrath have to convert the chances.
Peamount: With the arrival of Amanda Budden and Abby Tuthill, Peamount look more than solid at the back. Problems may arise further up the pitch. Won�t concede too much. Have them as fourth.
Galway: Departure of Julie Ann Russell and Jenna Slattery removes a lot of firepower from last season�s team. Jamie Erickson also a loss from their defence. Good keepers with Jayne Merren and Nicole Nix covering that position. Phil Trill an asset as manager but see them as fifth.
Shamrock Rovers: Other than the ageless Aine O�Gorman, this looks a young squad. Have lost a number of key players from last season. Can�t win anything with kids. I�ve placed them sixth.
DLR: Have kept much of last season�s team and should be very solid. See them as seventh with a possibility of higher.
Bohemians: Solid team also but don�t see them in contention. Possibly eighth.
Sligo: Have kept much of last year�s team. See them as ninth.
Treaty: Many of their imports appear to have left. Tenth.
Waterford: New team. Some good experience signed from Wexford including Maeve Williams, Jess Lawlor and Mia Lenihan. May need at least a season to get up to speed. Eleventh.
Cork: Have lost some useful players but their stand-out player, Colleen Kennedy O�Connell, is stated on the CCFC Forum not to be available until the mid-season break. If that�s the case, could finish bottom of the pile.

[Kiki Balboa]

Has there been any movement on a 1st Division?

[ForzaForth]

Kiki, Haven't heard a thing personally. But you'd imagine it wouldn't be too difficult as a good number of LOI clubs have underage women set-ups.

[DonegalHoop]

Great to see 12 teams in the division now. Has Julie Ann Russell retired from all football? I thought she had just stepped away from the international side.

[ForzaForth]

Donegal, My understanding is that's she's given up completely.

[Shearer]

Athlone wearing last year's jersey in a competitive game is very Athlone.

[cl�irseach]

Fair play Forza, there has been so much change that I'm finding it very hard to predict much of the season ahead. In place of some rankings I will try and do a quick sentence or two about each side.

Shelbourne - They finished last year in flying form, have kept their manager, and the majority of their key players. Maggie Pierce was a fantastic player and will be missed, while Gray & Healy contributed too. I know very little about the players they have added from the States, but they're probably favourites regardless.

Athlone - The reigning champs have had a turbulent offseason. Manager Ciar�n Kilduff has gone to Dundalk, with Colin Fortune stepping into the role. Lots of change on the playing front too, they will really miss Brenda Taby, who felt like a cert to score every week, and goalkeeper Katie Keane. They'll be expecting Kayla Brady and Izzy Groves to have a big impact, the latter a Jamaican international signing from the London City Lionesses. If you think the men's setup is odd at times the women's side pull of some bizarre but brilliant recruitment. Have a lot of attacking talent in Singleton, Molly, Gibson etc.

Wexford - Particularly difficult to predict, although Aoife Kelly has joined from Shamrock Rovers and will add a lot to their midfield, and Ellen Molloy returns from a brief spell at Sheffield United and the whole league knows what she is capable of. It is a good, talented squad, but they will need to get off to a much faster start than they have in recent years if they want to compete.

Galway - Generally I'd be reluctant to describe a team that lost their keeper, their centre half and two of the best players in the league in Julie-Ann Russell and the wonderfully skilled Jenna Slattery as contenders, but they have recruited well to fill at least three of those gaps. Trill has done a good job in Terryland and they stayed in the mix for two thirds of the previous season. Do they have the goals in them to challenge Shels? If Emma Doherty kicks on this year, or even if the points per game acquired by the top teams drops a little then they'd fancy their chances to put a run together.

[cl�irseach]

Shamrock Rovers - The director of football has left, and the playing departures hit double figures. On the other hand manager Collie O'Neill remains in place and Rovers will hope that their talented group of youngsters continue their development and are a little more consistent this year. Can you lose players like Shauna Fox, Amanda Budden, Aoife Kelly, Stephanie Zambra etc. and improve? On paper it looks like a year of transition, but then again, for all the talent that they have had in the recent past it hadn't really clicked.

Peamount - James O'Callaghan was at the helm for a long time and will be difficult to replace. They still have some brilliant players, young and less-young, and if they get a luckier run with injuries than last year they should be able to bounce back. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sadhbh Doyle back in action, just a wonderful player and a joy to watch. You can insert your 'like a new signing' cliche here.

[cl�irseach]

DLR - a bit of stability can go a long way when the world around you is changing. They bottomed out a couple of years ago and have been on a slow rise since. Michelle Doonan's return up front gives them a chance of pulling off a couple of shocks this season, as they have shown that they can stay in games.

Bohs - Alban Hysa replaces Ken Kiernan, who joined Ciar�n Kilduff at Dundalk. R�is�n McGovern should fill the gap left by Tiegan Ruddy, while elsewhere they have benefited from bringing in players from Shelbourne who are looking for more gametime or a different environment. There are a whole host of young players at Bohs with bright futures. It'll be interesting to see how Hannah Healy will get on this year, I think a bit more responsibility will suit her.

Treaty - Just like last year I hate writing this one as I have no idea really. Martin Russell's son Se�n steps in as manager. There can be a lot of turnover at Treaty, and a lot of players coming in from outside the league. Perhaps someone closer to the club would like to give us a lowdown on how they are shaping up?

Cork - After some promising performances last year it all fell apart somewhat at the end. Danny Murphy is out, in bizarre circumstances, and Frank Kelliher returns as boss. They've lost a couple of players, Orlaith O'Mahony to Flyde, Alex Mendes to Aberdeen, Erin O'Brien and others to Waterford, but have been able to hang out to most of their squad. However if the rumours of Coleen Kennedy having a long-term injury are true than that is a huge blow.

Sligo - Last year was a hard slog. Tommy Hewitt is out and has been replaced by the returning Steve Feeney, who managed the club through their first two campaigns. He has something of a rebuilding job on his hands, I know that Keri Loughrey has moved to Linfield but I'm unsure about Jodie. Keeping pace with some of Cork, Treaty or perhaps DLR, while holding off Waterford will be the aim.

Waterford - the new girls. Gary Hunt is an experienced manager but there isn't a huge amount of senior experience in the squad. The players that I recognise all have decent potential but it could be a slow build. Interestingly the ownership is different or somewhat detached from the men's side so I'm a little unclear on what the future plans are there.

[outspoken]

Athlone wearing last year's jersey in a competitive game is very Athlone.

Noticed the men's team last night all their warm up gear still had Valeo on it, must be last year's stuff too

[JC_GUFC]

Has there been any movement on a 1st Division?

I came on here to ask the same question.

There are 8 clubs now competing in the Women�s U19 League who aren�t yet in the Senior League.

Given the age profile of the senior league it seems the logical step would be to create a Division 1 next season and possibly two Divisions of 10 teams. Though maybe if clubs at the bottom of the existing League haven�t been told of potential relegation they�ll run with 12-8 for the first year of it.

[cl�irseach]

Unfortunately very few of those eight clubs are competitive at that u19 level yet, and a handful of them are way, way off it. One had ten put past them yesterday. They might need just a little bit more time or a couple more player cycles first. A clearer timeline might be good though.

[JC_GUFC]

Unfortunately very few of those eight clubs are competitive at that u19 level yet, and a handful of them are way, way off it. One had ten put past them yesterday. They might need just a little bit more time or a couple more player cycles first. A clearer timeline might be good though.

To be fair, based on very early season results, there are only two of those sides who are uncompetitive. If they�re all playing each other in Division 1 in a couple of seasons they shouldn�t be exposed to the very top teams.

[cl�irseach]

I'll come back to that in a few weeks if you like JC, as I don't want to get too specific about underage teams, but I will say now that I have not seen or heard much to suggest that, with the definite exception of Dundalk (and possible exception of Harps or CK) that the clubs without a senior team will be able to compete seriously with the clubs who have a senior team (bar Waterford). Perhaps and hopefully I will be wrong. I think there have been decent 'entry' points available for Dundalk and Harps (or certainly the Donegal League team that preceded them) and, had things been run or operating better on the men's side we could well have seen both competing by now.

[cl�irseach]

As for the Women's Premier Division itself, that midfield three for Bohemians are a joy to watch. Three teenagers - Gaughran, Brennan and Healy - who are all wonderful competitors and technically gifted players. They will get overrun at times but they're already the side's three stars. Another youngester, Katie McCarn, came out with two screaming finishes yesterday. Still, overall, you'd expect and up-and-down season.

One Rovers are off to a flyer - the young players in Tallaght (Kelly, O'Reilly etc.) are kicking up a gear and despite losing so many in the summer they might be more balanced for it. The other Rovers have had a poor start, as have DLR. All early days yet. I was also very impressed with Galway when I saw them last week. All early days yet of course. Whether or not you have a top level #9 seems as big a deal at the moment as having a good #1 was a few years back.

[JC_GUFC]

I see Cobh have announced their intentions to enter a Senior Team next year so a Division 1 could be closer if the likes of Dundalk and Harps enter teams.

A couple of the teams look to be miles off it but you�d imagine if entering a senior team they�d attract better players from further afield. They could also be quite young sides for u19 level, I�ve no idea.

Also my point is if they�re playing in Division 1 they don�t need to be competing with the likes of Shels and Rovers.

I guess the counter argument is that the strength-in-depth in the League isn�t really there yet. Does adding more teams dilute things even further?

I don�t think it would add anything to the league having one 16-team Division as there�d likely be a couple of hammerings each week.

As for this season it looks wide open again. Rovers have started impressively for sure and possibly are favourites ahead of Shels. I wasn�t sure Galway United would be in the shake up again this season, especially with the loss of the spine of the team, Berlin in goal, Erickson who played nearly every match over 2 years at CB, Jenna Slattery and Julie-Ann Russell. The first two results have been good but Saturday will be a real test against Rovers to see if we are contenders. Emma Doherty and Ceola Bergin probably offer more of a goal threat than we�ve ever had before.

[Ancient Rush]

Crowd of 726 there for Treaty today. Very decent numbers to see them win late and momentarily go top of the division

[wonder88]

Important win for Galway at home v Shamrock R. Athlone (the campions we shouldn't forget) are off to a good start as well. That is a good crowd in Limerick as it is really difficult to build a fan base for women's sports, camogie and LGA the same.

[Ontheball92]

City close to it again definitely think if they made a few changes that they could be a top 4 team 1 or 2 players costing them

[cl�irseach]

Athlone hosting their own Chapions League games is a welcome development.

[cl�irseach]

and didn't they play well! 4-0 hammering against Cardiff City, and followed up with a 3-0 win over the Croatian champs, ŽNK Agram.

Only caught bits of yesterday's win as I was at a good Bohs performance in the UCD Bowl, but they blew Cardiff away completely.

[cl�irseach]

Thanks to @Chippie1974 on Twitter for pointing out that the league is 19th in the Women's UEFA Coefficient, with Croatia one step above.

Time to cut the men's game and focus on the women!

[cl�irseach]

Domestically meanwhile:
- Shels have snuck back in to top place, although as there are two clashes with Athlone left it is all to play for.
- Shamrock Rovers have replaced Collie O'Neill with Stephanie Zambra (neé Roche)
- Bohs have hit a run of form, as have Wexford. A good All Island Cup final awaits.
- Sligo Rovers are off the bottom and improving
- Cork City are now bottom of the league and their best players are leaving.

[2 Year Contract]

Domestically meanwhile:
- Shels have snuck back in to top place, although as there are two clashes with Athlone left it is all to play for.
- Shamrock Rovers have replaced Collie O'Neill with Stephanie Zambra (neé Roche)
- Bohs have hit a run of form, as have Wexford. A good All Island Cup final awaits.
- Sligo Rovers are off the bottom and improving
- Cork City are now bottom of the league and their best players are leaving.

I thought this thread was about the women's premier division ;)

[wonder88]

Great atmosphere at the Athlone game on Saturday. They really dominated the first half and could even have scored more than 3. They had to sit back a lot in the second half as their energy levels (not surprisingly) dropped, but their keeper and defense did a great job to keep a clean sheet. Another full-stand of a 1916 crowd.
On my way into the ground I noticed a fan wearing a Fiat Trucks Athlone jersey which was great to see. It is up on the clubs insta account now, it was from the 1980/81 season they say. Hopefully these results will give a boast to the league in general. I was in Lissywollen 2 weeks back for the league game v Galway and it was a small enough home crowd at it.

[Onapointoforder]

Great atmosphere at the Athlone game on Saturday. They really dominated the first half and could even have scored more than 3. They had to sit back a lot in the second half as their energy levels (not surprisingly) dropped, but their keeper and defense did a great job to keep a clean sheet. Another full-stand of a 1916 crowd.
On my way into the ground I noticed a fan wearing a Fiat Trucks Athlone jersey which was great to see. It is up on the clubs insta account now, it was from the 1980/81 season they say. Hopefully these results will give a boast to the league in general. I was in Lissywollen 2 weeks back for the league game v Galway and it was a small enough home crowd at it. Athlone womens team manager has departed with immediate effect?? The wrong manager has left the club…

[Nesta99]

Have the Americans got a badgeless Italian academy manager in mind to come in??

Seems vey odd unless off to a higher job. Top of the league, good results in Europe, bit unlucky againt Breidablik Semi final of the cup. Harsh if thats not enough.

[Onapointoforder]

Have the Americans got a badgeless Italian academy manager in mind to come in??

Seems vey odd unless off to a higher job. Top of the league, good results in Europe, bit unlucky againt Breidablik Semi final of the cup. Harsh if thats not enough. Collie O’Neill. ex-Shamrock Rovers women’s first team manager to Athlone perhaps? Would join ex-Shamrock Rovers man and new Athlone Town CEO Steven Gray (and his former assistant coach with UCD men’s 1st team and current Athlone men’s first team manager Ian Ryan)!!!!

[pineapple stu]

Has Collie left Rovers?

[Onapointoforder]

Has Collie left Rovers? A few weeks ago at this stage…

[cl�irseach]

Welcome to the new Athlone, just like the old Athlone: https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2025/09/08/colin-fortune-i-felt-undermined-as-manager-of-athlone-town-women/

[Onapointoforder]

Welcome to the new Athlone, just like the old Athlone: https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2025/09/08/colin-fortune-i-felt-undermined-as-manager-of-athlone-town-women/ The new CEO would be better off popping into the men’s dressing room and helping out his buddy?

[Dermobohs]

Cracking Dublin derby out in tallaght today, end to end, great stuff. Bohs hugely improved, finishing the season well, and one cup final lost on pens, one more to come.
Hopefully the fans cop on to the fact these women are actually worth a visit , awful attendance today but I hear cup final will have a very decent turnout, nbb display incoming!!
Let’s face it, it’s as good as watching the lads bottle it!!!

[cl�irseach]

Cracking Dublin derby out in tallaght today, end to end, great stuff. Bohs hugely improved, finishing the season well, and one cup final lost on pens, one more to come.
Hopefully the fans cop on to the fact these women are actually worth a visit , awful attendance today but I hear cup final will have a very decent turnout, nbb display incoming!!
Let’s face it, it’s as good as watching the lads bottle it!!!

I'd love more fans from Fridays to make the Saturdays*, but Bohs are the last club I'd use to highlight it. The game was in Tallaght and yet the crowd was evenly split. There were over a thousand in Dalymount last week again, including NBB youth with a display, and even if you remove the semi finals Bohs have, again, the highest week-to-week / mean attendance in the league again, and it is still growing.

On the flipside, Tallaght is such a grim venue for the women's match, the restrictions in seats, bottles etc. remain in place but, with the early enthusiasm dead, Rovers don't even make the effort to have ball girls or half-time games anymore. It's all very half arsed now.

On the football side of things Bohs were the better team and deserved a win from it really. Rovers have lost a lot of very talented players and filled the squad with signings from the EWFL, NIFL and players who weren't getting a kick for their rivals. Having said that they still have some serious quality from the last generation of young players. Ella Kelly was the pick of the performers today again, and Katie O'Reilly was excellent too. Maria Reynolds was on the bench but is also well able.

*on this, will the FAI ever cop on and play Women's finals on Saturdays. There are numerous reasons why this is better, but here are three:
- Audience built used to attending on Saturdays
- DDSL Girls fixtures are on Sundays
- Amateur & Semi Professional players working the following day / burning a holiday.

[cl�irseach]

Quite the fudge by the FAI to create the new 'senior' divisions.

Seems driven by UEFA's carrot (development league funding) and stick (licensing requirements).

We'll see the clubs that haven't taken women's football on yet be entered into this new development league, which is basically a direct replacement for the u19 league with the age limit removed for some, and adjusted for others.

https://extratime.com/articles/36574/league-of-ireland-to-introduce-womens-development-league-from-2026/

[sbgawa]

Watch for the Womans National Leagues to become fully amateur if Eileen Gleeson wins her case against the FAI.
When PAts have to pay their womans team manager the same as Stephen Kenny (insert your club here) they will have to make the jobs very different (as would Rovers or anyone else) .

[Buckett]

There were 105 people at Galway Utd v Cork City in the Women's Premier on Saturday. I would guess that most of them entered using their men's season ticket, probably around 10 paid in. Not even the FAI would force clubs to pay both managers the same.
I'm not having a go at the women, but the LOI is lightyears ahead of them. Before the beginning of last season, our MU15's beat our women's team quite easily, think it was around 7-1. Our women were All-Island Cup champions at the time too.

[nr637]

I notice the Athlone Town Womens squad is made up of USA, German, Jamaica and Irish players. How many of the Irish contingent are locally based and why so many USA players!

[Shearer]

I notice the Athlone Town Womens squad is made up of USA, German, Jamaica and Irish players. How many of the Irish contingent are locally based and why so many USA players!
If you want that extra quality you'll have to look further afield, most clubs have a few but Athlone have the most.

Considering the strength of Athlone at underage and their catchment, I would have expected them to recruit from within the league in the last off season.

While they were bringing in yanks they allowed an Irish U19 international to walk away.

[nr637]

If you want that extra quality you'll have to look further afield, most clubs have a few but Athlone have the most.

Considering the strength of Athlone at underage and their catchment, I would have expected them to recruit from within the league in the last off season.

While they were bringing in yanks they allowed an Irish U19 international to walk away.


No info so, if the Irish contingent are locally based from Athlone! :confused:

[Shearer]

No info so, if the Irish contingent are locally based from Athlone! :confused:
https://www.soccerdonna.de/en/athlone-town/startseite/verein_9565.html

There's the Athlone squad. Some of the player profiles show where they're from, otherwise google is your friend 👍

[Nesta99]

How many years do players have to be based in Ireland before they can be naturalised. Is it citizenship related still? Portugal have made good use of getting young Brazilians qualified for their national side. We shouldnt neglect our own young players but scouting youth and keep them and grow the eligible player pool should also play a part - sell on when they are capped!!

[ForzaForth]

Five years' residency is required for naturalisation, as far as I know.

[cl�irseach]

I notice the Athlone Town Womens squad is made up of USA, German, Jamaica and Irish players. How many of the Irish contingent are locally based and why so many USA players!

Overseas players on football teams is hardly unusual. I'm not going to engage too much as I'm not sure what your lines are for locally based but most of the Athlone team is as locally based as their underage squads.

As for why so many Americans, it's not uncommon in women's football for yanks to tour abroad after passing through the very strong college soccer system. They're available, and they had links.

As to the eligibility of the overseas players, Brady is a potential callup. Waesch has the quality but I'm not aware of any link to Ireland.

[Nesta99]

Its not a long time really when a league system is fairly young and you dont (kind of) want it full of non Irish eligible players. We know people tried to buy clubs across LoI for the purpose of percieved easy access to Europe and for exposure to the English market. But if you can add to academies and naturalise players also, well football scholarships from wider base could be a growth area from eg the US. Even without scholarships it'd probably be a cheaper education here.

[cl�irseach]

If you want that extra quality you'll have to look further afield, most clubs have a few but Athlone have the most.

Considering the strength of Athlone at underage and their catchment, I would have expected them to recruit from within the league in the last off season.

While they were bringing in yanks they allowed an Irish U19 international to walk away.

The player in question is very talented and will be an excellent player. She needed gametime. She was kept out of the team by Irish players and she made the right move for her. Both Athlone (on for a double here after also winning two rounds in Europe) and the player themselves (not wanting to wait for a first team opportunity for a side not chasing a title) seemed to prioritise well.

[wonder88]

I am surprised Kelly Brady is not in the Ireland squad, maybe the problem highlighted by Kilduff last year still exists.
Athlone have 3 Galway players often on their team, which you could consider as within their catchment area. They have recruited well from abroad. Some of the Dublin clubs don't have any yanks I thing. I think they certainly bring the standard up, while with the new division and new clubs next year there will be good opportunity for talented Irish players to get game time.
Looking forward to the Cup final and hope they get a good crowd and decent weather for it.