| Season | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Wexford Youths |
| Champions League | Wexford Youths |
| Matches played | 63 |
| Goals scored | 241 (3.83 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Amber Barrett (Peamount United, 16 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Peamount United 9–0 Kilkenny United (20 May 2017) |
| Biggest away win | Kilkenny United 0–11 Shelbourne (31 May 2017) |
| Highest scoring | Kilkenny United 0–11 Shelbourne (31 May 2017) |
← 2016 2018 → | |
The 2017 Women's National League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Continental Tyres Women's National League, was the seventh season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland. It was the second league season to run over an entire calendar year.
Wexford Youths won the season and their third National League title. [1] Amber Barrett from Peamount United won her second top scorer award with 16 goals. [2]
| Team | Home town/suburb | Stadium | 2016 finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cork City W.F.C. | Cork | Bishopstown Stadium | 6th |
| Galway W.F.C. | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5th |
| Kilkenny United W.F.C. | Kilkenny | Buckley Park | 7th |
| Peamount United | Newcastle, South Dublin | Greenogue | 3rd |
| Shelbourne Ladies | Santry | Morton Stadium | 1st |
| UCD Waves | Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown | Jackson Park | 2nd |
| Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park | 4th |
Teams play each other three times, either twice at home and once away, or once at home and twice away. Each team plays 18 games, 9 home and 9 away.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wexford Youths (C) | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 17 | +18 | 40 | 2018–19 Champions League |
| 2 | Peamount United | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 47 | 23 | +24 | 38 | |
| 3 | Shelbourne Ladies | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 57 | 22 | +35 | 31 | |
| 4 | UCD Waves | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 27 | |
| 5 | Cork City | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 22 | |
| 6 | Galway W.F.C. | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 18 | |
| 7 | Kilkenny United | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 88 | −80 | 3 |
| Month | Player of the Month | References | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | ||
| March | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle | Peamount | [3] |
| April | Kylie Murphy | Wexford | [3] |
| May | Ciara McNamara | Cork | [3] |
| June | Lucy McCartan | Peamount | [4] |
| August | Pearl Slattery | Shelbourne | [5] |
| October | Heather Payne | Peamount | [6] |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| WNL Player of the Year | Amber Barrett | Peamount United |
| Young Player of the Year | Saoirse Noonan | Cork City |
| WNL Team of the Year | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper |  Amanda Budden (Cork City) | |||||||||||
| Defenders | Claire Walsh (UCD Waves) | Niamh Prior (Shelbourne) | Chloe Moloney (Peamount United) | Ciara McNamara (Cork City) | ||||||||
| Midfielders | Karen Duggan (UCD Waves) | Kylie Murphy (Wexford Youths) | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) | |||||||||
| Forwards | Amber Barrett (Peamount United) | Claire O'Riordan (Wexford Youths) | Clare Shine (Cork City) | |||||||||
Peamount United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Newcastle, South Dublin. The club is best known for its senior women's team who in 2011–12 became founder members and inaugural champions of the Women's National League. They have also represented the Republic of Ireland in Europe and in 2011–12 they became the first Republic of Ireland team, including men's teams, to qualify from their group for the knockout stages of a European competition. The club's senior men's team compete in the Leinster Senior League. Peamount United have also fielded teams in the Dublin Women's Soccer League, the Dublin and District Schoolboys League and the Metropolitan Girls League.
The Women's National League is the top-level league for women's association football in the Republic of Ireland. It is organised by the Football Association of Ireland and the Women's Football Association of Ireland. The LFAI previously organised a women's national league known as the Ladies League of Ireland or the Women's League of Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s. The current league was founded in 2011 and the inaugural winners were Peamount United. The winners qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Castlebar Celtic W.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Castlebar, County Mayo. The club is the women's section of Castlebar Celtic and has entered teams in the Women's National League, the Mayo Women's Football League and the FAI Women's Cup.
Shelbourne Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Northside, Dublin. It is the women's section of the League of Ireland club Shelbourne FC. The senior women's team currently plays in the Women's National League. They have also fielded teams in the Dublin Women's Soccer League, the Metropolitan Girls League and the North Dublin Schoolboys/Girls League.
Wexford Youths Women Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. Their senior team plays in the Women's National League. In recent seasons Wexford Youths have emerged as one of the league's strongest teams.
The 2011–12 Women's National League season was the inaugural season of the Women's National League. The season was sponsored by Bus Éireann. Originally seven clubs were invited to join the league. However shortly before the start of the season Bray Wanderers/St. Joseph's pulled out due to a lack of competitive players. This left six teams – Peamount United, Castlebar Celtic, Cork Women's F.C., Raheny United, Shamrock Rovers and Wexford Youths – to play the inaugural season.
The 2012–13 Women's National League was the second season of the Women's National League. This season was again sponsored by Bus Éireann. The six founding members of the league – Peamount United, Castlebar Celtic, Cork Women's F.C., Raheny United, Shamrock Rovers and Wexford Youths – were joined for the second season by DLR Waves. Raheny United won their first of two WNL titles. They also complete a league and cup double after already winning the 2012 FAI Women's Cup. Peamount United won the 2013 WNL Cup with a 6–3 win over Castlebar Celtic. Sara Lawlor of Peamount United was the top league goalscorer with 28 goals. She also won a second consecutive Player of the Season award.
The 2014–15 Women's National League was the fourth season of the Women's National League. On 20 August 2014, at the Aviva Stadium, Continental Tyres were unveiled as the new sponsor of both the Women's National League and FAI Women's Cup. Before the season started there were two name changes following takeovers and/or mergers. Cork Women's F.C. were taken over by FORAS/Cork City F.C. and as a result were renamed Cork City W.F.C. It was also announced that DLR Waves and UCD's senior women's team would join forces and become known as UCD Waves. Shamrock Rovers withdrew from the league, leaving seven teams to play each other.
The 2015–16 Women's National League was the fifth season of the Women's National League. Two new clubs joined the league before the start of the season, restoring the number of teams in the league to eight. Kilkenny United were formed as expansion team while Raheny United's senior women's team merged with Shelbourne Ladies. This effectively saw Shelbourne Ladies takeover Raheny United's place in the WNL. The season also saw the introduction of the WNL Shield. Wexford Youths and Shelbourne Ladies finished the season as the league's two strongest teams. In the league itself, the two teams finished level on points before Wexford Youths retained the title after a play-off. Wexford Youths also completed a treble, having already won both the FAI Women's Cup and WNL Shield. Shelbourne Ladies were also runners up in the WNL Shield before going onto win the WNL Cup. Before the season was finished Castlebar Celtic withdrew because they were unable to field a team.
Karen Duggan is an Irish footballer who plays for Peamount United of the Women's National League (WNL). She has previously played for UCD Waves and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. Between 2013 and 2016 Duggan was selected for the WNL Team of the Season for four successive seasons. She was the only player selected all four seasons. In 2015–16 she was also WNL Senior Player of the Season. Duggan has also played camogie at club, university and county level.
Siobhán Killeen is a Republic of Ireland women's international footballer. She has also played for UCD, Raheny United and Shelbourne Ladies. In 2010, she was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad that were runners-up in the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship and quarter-finalists in the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Killeen has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin.
Noelle Murray is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Irish club Shelbourne and the Republic of Ireland national team. Between 2011 and 2016 Murray played in six successive FAI Women's Cup finals with three clubs - St Catherine's, Raheny United and Shelbourne Ladies.
The 2018 Women's National League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Continental Tyres Women's National League, was the eighth season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland. Limerick W.F.C. competed for the first time. Wexford Youths were the winners.
The 2019 Women's National League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Só Hotels Women's National League, was the ninth season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland. It began on 9 March 2019 and concluded on 10 November 2019. Wexford Youths were the defending champions, but Peamount United won to secure their first League title since the inaugural 2011–12 season.
The 2020 Women's National League was the 10th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland.
Dearbháile Beirne is an Irish dual code footballer from Mohill in County Leitrim. In soccer she plays for Peamount United of the Women's National League (WNL) and has represented the Republic of Ireland women's national football team at youth and senior level. She has also played Ladies' Gaelic football for Leitrim GAA, competing in the Ladies' National Football League and All-Ireland Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship.
The 2021 Women's National League, known as the SSE Airtricity WNL for sponsorship reasons, is the 11th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland since its establishment in 2011. Peamount United were the defending champions, having won their third league title the previous season.
The 2021 FAI Women's Cup is the 46th edition of the Republic of Ireland's primary national knockout cup competition for women's association football teams. The nine Women's National League (WNL) teams entered the competition, but unlike in previous years no non-league teams took part. The competition began on 13 August 2021 with a single-fixture first round and concluded on 21 November 2021. The final was staged at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, which had also hosted the previous year's final.
Kylie Murphy is an Irish footballer who plays for Wexford Youths of the Women's National League (WNL). Predominantly a midfielder, she was successfully repurposed as a forward in 2021.
The 2022 Women's National League known as the SSE Airtricity WNL for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland since its establishment in 2011. Expansion team Sligo Rovers competed for the first time, bringing the league up to ten clubs. Shelbourne, as defending champions from the previous season, won the 2022 league by defeating Wexford Youths on the final day of the season.
