Cork City W.F.C.

Cork City Women's Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Chathair Chorcaí na mBan) is an Irish women's association football team, based in Cork city. Originally playing at Bishopstown Stadium, from the 2021 Women's National League season, the club were playing home games at Turners Cross Stadium.[1] The club kit is the same as that of Cork City FC, as is the emblem, which is itself a variant of the Cork coat of arms. The club was founded in 2011 as Cork Women's F.C., to take its place as one of seven teams in Ireland's inaugural Women's National League.[2] In 2014 they affiliated with FORAS, the supporters' trust behind Cork City FC, and relaunched as Cork City Women's FC.[3] The club claimed their first national silverware by winning the FAI Women's Cup in 2017,[4] and merged "fully" with Cork City FC ahead of the 2018 season.[5]

Cork City FC Women's
Full nameCork City Football Club
Nickname(s)The Rebel Army, The Leesiders
Founded2011 (2011)
(as Cork Women's FC)
GroundTurners Cross
Capacity7,485
ManagerDanny Murphy
LeagueWomen's National League
20229th
WebsiteClub website

History

2011–2015

Cork Women's F.C. was founded after the granting of a license to compete in the inaugural season of the Women's National League by the Football Association of Ireland.[6] The club played its games in the stadium of the Cork Institute of Technology for their debut year. A squad was assembled containing players such as Denise O'Sullivan, Marie Curtin and Clare Shine under the management of Dave Bell.[7] The club had some mixed results on the field in the 2011–12 Women's National League season, and Bell left by mutual agreement in early March 2012. Former Tralee Dynamos player Ronan Collins took the reins of the club until the end of the season (finishing third).

Maurice Farrell was appointed as head coach for the 2012–13 season.[8] There were also changes on the pitch as players like Katie McCarthy, Marie Curtin and Sylvia Gee departed. The club also moved to Turners Cross stadium for the following season. The club finished second-bottom of the league.

For the 2013–14 WNL season, a number of players departed, and a largely new team was signed.[9] Irish International Denise O'Sullivan was the highest profile departure, following a move to Scottish club Glasgow City. The club also began discussions with FORAS Trust which resulted in the club playing home games at Bishopstown Stadium. The team failed to register a point and only scored two goals all season, and Maurice Farrell departed the club at the end of the season.[10]

For the 2014–15 season, the club formally agreed to a merger with Cork City F.C. and FORAS Trust, to become Cork City W.F.C. for the upcoming season.[11] The club continued to play matches at Bishopstown stadium. Former Gaynor Cup-winning manager for Cork, Charlie Lynch, was appointed manager and assembled a squad with additions such as Irish U19 internationals Ciara McNamara and Shannon Carson. Despite an improvement on the field in performances, the club finished another season without a single league win. The club controversially forfeited their final league fixture against Raheny United, which deprived Raheny's Katie McCabe of an opportunity to claim the WNL Golden Boot.[12]

2015–2022

Charlie Lynch was appointed Head of Youth Development and former Bandon AFC manager Niall O'Regan appointed as manager for the 2015–16 season. With some new players, they secured their first win in two years against newly formed Kilkenny United. In February 2016, Frank Kelleher was announced as the new manager, replacing Niall O'Regan.[13]

Cork City WFC came 5th in the 2017 Women's National League season, and won the FAI Women's Cup in November 2017.[4]

Affiliated with FORAS (the supporters' trust behind Cork City FC) from 2014,[3] Cork City WFC was "fully merged" with Cork City FC ahead of the 2018 WNL season.[5] During the 2018 season, the club reached the final of the Women's National League Development Shield competition,[14] losing out to Wexford Youths W.F.C. on penalties.[15] The club finished mid-table in the 2019 Women's National League, with 24 points from 21 games.[16]

Cork City WFC came fourth in the 2020 WNL League competition,[17] and reached the 2020 FAI Women's Cup Final, losing out to Peamount United.[18] The club came 8th in the 2021 league,[19] and 9th in 2022.[20]

Stadia
See also: Bishopstown Stadium and Turners Cross (stadium)

For several seasons, Cork City W.F.C. played their home games at Bishopstown Stadium in Curaheen. This stadium had been developed by former Cork City F.C. chairman Pat O'Donovan in 1994 as a new home for the club. However, due to the poor finances of the club, the ground was sold. Cork City F.C. rented the ground as a training and administrative base.[21]

In Cork Women FC's debut season, games were staged at the Cork Institute of Technology Sports Stadium. The club then moved to Turners Cross for 2012–13 before moving to Bishopstown Stadium. As of early 2021, the club were due to return to Turners Cross,[1] and by 2022 had been included in a long-term agreement with the Munster Football Association for the "use of Turner's Cross for [..] Women's National League fixtures".[22]

League placings
Season Points Total Position
2011–12 20 3rd
2012–13 14 6th
2013–14 0 8th
2014–15 2 7th
2015–16 7 6th
2016 9 6th
2017 22 5th
2018 24 5th
2019 24 5th
2020 19 4th
2021 16 8th[23]
2022 18 9th[20]

Players

Current squad
As of 24 April 2021.[24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Abby McCarthy
2 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Nathalie O'Brien
3 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Danielle Burke
4 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Ciara McNamara
5 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Zara Foley
6 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Éabha O'Mahony
7 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Lauren Egbuloniu
8 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Kate O'Donovan
9 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Christina Dring
10 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Katie McCarthy
11 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Sophie Liston
13 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Leah Hayes Coen
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Shaunagh McCarth
15 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Leah Murphy
16 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Laura Shine
17 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Riona Crowley
18 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Becky Cassin (captain)
20 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Eva Mangan
21 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Nadine Seward
22 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Kelly Leahy
23 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Sarah McKevitt
24 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Lauren Walsh
25 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Lauren Singleton

Notable former players
Republic of Ireland women's internationals
Cork ladies' Gaelic footballers

Coaching staff

As of January 2022, the technical staff included:[25]

Position Name
Interim manager Paul Farrell
Coach Nick Harrison

Managers
Year/s Manager
2011-2012 England Dave Bell
2012 Republic of Ireland Ronán Collins
2012–2014 Republic of Ireland Maurice Farrell
2014–2015 Republic of Ireland Charlie Lynch
2015–2016 Republic of Ireland Niall O'Regan
2016–2018 Republic of Ireland Frank Kelleher[13]
2018–2021 Republic of Ireland Ronán Collins[26]
2021-2022 Republic of Ireland Paul Farrell [27]
2022-present England Danny Murphy [28]

See also

References
  1. "'A huge step for the club' - Cork City women to play home matches at Turner's Cross". the42.ie. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. RTÉ Sport (3 August 2011). "FAI announce new Women's League". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  3. "Cork Women's FC to re-launch". Supporters Direct. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. "Moment of magic wins Women's FAI Cup final for Cork City". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 5 November 2017.
  5. "Cork City announce merger with cup-winning women's team as club unveil new away kits for 2018". the42.ie. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  6. "Bus Eireann Women's League ready for kick-off". sseairtricityleague.ie.
  7. Louise Cashell (3 August 2011). "The dream is finally becoming a reality". Cork Independent. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  8. Peter McNamara (1 August 2012). "New Cork boss Farrell focuses on long term development". Extratime.ie. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  9. Louise Cashell (15 August 2013). "New players for Cork Women's FC". Cork Independent. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  10. Kieran McCarthy (2 May 2014). "Maurice Farrell departs Cork Women's FC". Southern Star.
  11. Joseph McSweeney (23 June 2014). "Cork Women's FC relaunched as Cork City W.F.C." Official Site. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. Clarke, Aaron (5 May 2015). "WNL 2014/15 season - As it happened". extratime.ie. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  13. "Frank Kelleher appointed Cork City W.F.C. manager". corkcitywomensfc.com. Cork City W.F.C. 7 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  14. "WNL Shield 2018 Development Shield". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  15. "Wexford Youths lift Women's NL Shield after shoot-out victory". the42.ie. Journal Media. 7 October 2018.
  16. "2019 Women's National League Table". ExtraTime.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. "2020 Women's National League Table". extratime.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  18. "Stephanie Roche tees things up perfectly as Peamount wrap up double". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  19. "2021 Women's National League Table". extratime.com. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  20. "Women's National League 2022 Season". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022.
  21. Buckley, Éanna (4 March 2010). "McCarthy Developments Announced as Community Partner". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  22. "Cork City secure use of Turner's Cross for next 20 years". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  23. "Women's National League 2021 Season - Table". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  24. "Women's Senior Team". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  25. "Backroom Staff". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Women's First Team [..] Interim Manager: Paul Farrell [..] Coach: Nick Harrison
  26. "Rónán Collins appointed interim manager of Women's Team". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. 9 May 2018.
  27. "Farrell appointed manager of Women's Team". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. 17 November 2021.
  28. "Danny Murphy appointed manager of Women's Team". Echolive.ie. Echolive. 30 May 2022.
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