There's a different feel to Irish women's top-flight soccer as the new season approaches.
On one hand, gone is the Women's National League and in its place is a rebrand, the league now known as the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Women's Premier Division.
There is also an expansion from 10 teams to 11, with Shamrock Rovers joining the party and making big transfer moves during the off-season.
But the other factor in the background is the fact that the league will be in the spotlight to a greater extent than ever before, given that the Republic of Ireland are going to a World Cup this summer for the first time in history.
With that in mind, Peamount United's manager James O'Callaghan believes it is vital that Vera Pauw takes as many domestic-based players with her as possible in the Girls in Green squad that will go to Australia in July.
Of the squad of 28 picked for the historic play-off win over Scotland last October, just three were home-based, while the original party named for the recent China friendly contained two.
"It's great for the league, great for the country that the Irish women's team have qualified for the World Cup," he told RTÉ Sport at the recent launch of the 2023 League of Ireland at Dublin's City Hall.
"And obviously because of that, the popularity of the women's game is really coming on. But in saying all that, we would like to see some home-based players make the squad as well.
"I think that's really, really important for the development of the league."
O'Callaghan also urged the FAI and the Government to provide incentives to make it "more attractive for players to stay in the national league".
"It can be tough for players leaving the country. It doesn't always mean they develop or get better," he said.
"If it's a case where players thought, 'we have a top league here in our country where all our best players want to stay and we have a league where the crowds are getting bigger', I think that would be really, really important."
O'Callaghan is going into his seventh season in charge of Peamount and after being involved in a four-way title battle with Shelbourne, Athlone Town and Wexford Youths until late in the 2022 season, this campaign will be even more competitive.
Part of that is down to Shamrock Rovers' arrival into the league, which has seen stars like Áine O'Gorman and Stephanie Roche, among others, swapping Peamount for the Hoops.
Although Peamount, who open their campaign against inaugural President's Cup winners Athlone on Saturday, have no choice but to absorb those departures - mitigated however by being able to retain some core squad members over the winter along with new additions - O'Callaghan views Rovers' entry into the league as a net positive.
"I'm delighted there are more men's clubs putting women's teams into the Women's National League. It will only improve things.
"I think the standard of the league now is the best it's ever been. There is no team that is going to dominate the league. Most teams on their day can beat anybody so it's really important that everyone gets a good start.
"As well as that, it's a short league. It's only two rounds of fixtures [20 games] so it's important you hit the ground running."
With Peamount being a standalone women's club in a division where sides are increasingly drawn from entities with men's sections, O'Callaghan added that their own model also needs to be valued.
"I think that's something that should be developed because it's a nice brand to have as well," he said.
"For the last ten years, Peamount has been one of the leading clubs in developing women's football.
"They've developed lots of players for different teams in the national league, the international team and players that have gone abroad.
"Yeah, (we're) massive underdogs but how sweet would it be to do something this year? So we're all very highly motivated."
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