Change has happened very fast for the SSE Airtricity Women's League of Ireland in recent years and the new season promises to be no different.
2023 saw the re-joining of Shamrock Rovers to the league with an immediate title challenge, Athlone Town won their first trophy in the FAI Cup, a new competition in the Avenir Cup brought a surprising winner in Galway United and Aine O’Gorman and Abbie Larkin historically became the first active players from the league to appear in a World Cup.
This year sees five of the 11 clubs with new managers with two more in their first full seasons. Those managers will be looking to bring their own ideas to push their sides forward.
So what might the priority for each manager be this season? We take a look.
Athlone Town – Bringing cup form to the league
Athlone have had great success in cup competitions in the last two years, winning nine games (including the President’s Cup and Avenir Cup) that helped earn a famous FAI Cup win in 2023. That’s a cup win rate of 75%. In the league last year, they won at a rate of just 55%.
Four of their five cup wins of 2023 came via penalties, a luxury they won’t have in the league. After going from two points behind first place in 2022 to 17 last year, Ciaran Kilduff will need to look to past cup form for inspiration.
Bohemians – Maintain form for a full season
As the season took a break last June, Bohs sat in fourth place and were just two points from second. But they returned a different side, going six without a win (with no goals scored in the first three) and only taking one further win. That was a one-goal home win over a Treaty United team who hadn’t won a game all year. The departure of Sarah Rowe back to Australia can’t have helped but the rest of the team was largely in place.
It was the opposite to the previous campaign where the Gypsies had only one win in nine to begin the season but finished better with just five defeats in 13 down the home stretch. New manager Ken Kiernan will be looking to build a team who can sustain results for the full 20 games.
Cork City – Scoring early
Over half (six of 11) of Cork City’s 2023 league goals came in the last four games. Whatever happened at half-time as they trailed Sligo Rovers 3-0 made a big difference as they scored three in the second half and in each of the three remaining games after.
As well as the need to score earlier in the season, City will also need to score earlier in games as only one of their 11 goals came earlier than the 40th minute. And it led them to their only win of the season. A lot of work is needed for a team who has been in the bottom two for the three most recent seasons, but it starts with finding goals.
DLR Waves – Consistent scoring
If Cork had inconsistency during different stages of the season, DLR had a different problem as their scoring fluctuated widely from one week to the next. Their scoring in the first 11 weeks of the season read: 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 0. They defined feast or famine. Strangely, one of the games they managed a triple was away to Shamrock Rovers so the capability is there even against the top teams.
By the end of the season, it left them averaging 0.65 goals per game. That’s their lowest ever total and only the second time to be below one per game. Top scorer last year Michelle Doonan had three goals, so they’ll need from the squad to step up.
Galway United – More cutting edge
Galway were one of the success stories of 2023. As well as winning the mid-season Avenir Cup, they finished two places higher than the year before (something only Peamount did) and won more games despite the season going from 27 to 20 games. They achieved this with impressive ball control, having the second most possession at 57.2%.
Despite this they only had the seventh-most passes into the final third (1077) and the sixth-most touches in the opposition penalty box (282). This resulted in them only using their possession advantage for the fifth-most shots in the league. As a result, their goals per game dropped from 1.78 to 1.45 (it was 1.08 at the break). While keeping the ball prevented opponents from scoring and allowed them to have the league's joint-best defensive record, to push on and compete with the top teams for more honours they will have to provide a greater goal threat.
Peamount United – Cup form
It’s hard to find much to improve on for a league champion. They will have to cope with the loss of Tara O’Hanlon to Manchester City but she didn’t play a game after June. They also dealt with the loss of top scorer (nine) Kate Mooney in September by moving Ellen Dolan up front for a return of eight in the last six.
Winning the FAI Cup once since 2010 is sub-par for a club of Peamount’s reputation. They have won just three FAI Cup ties in the last three years, twice over Treaty United and another against Finglas United. From five cup games played last year they won none in 90 minutes, only getting an extra-time win over Treaty and shockingly losing all three Avenir Cup games. With prestigious and valuable Champions League games to come, they will want to put on a better showing in 2024.
Shamrock Rovers – Away form
Shamrock Rovers had an excellent first season back and it may seem odd to say that the only team in the last four seasons to go all year without an away loss need to improve there. But despite this, the Hoops' five draws away from home were costly. The ten points they dropped would more than made up the seven-point gap they had to Peamount (who won nine from 10 away).
Looking at how those draws happened doesn’t indicate they could have done better as in the draws at Galway and Wexford they needed 85th and 90th minute equalisers. In two other big games, at Bohs and Peamount, they failed to score. When competing at the top as they did last year, these fine margins can make or break a season.
Shelbourne – Home results v top four
In three home games against the other sides to finish top four, Shelbourne gained just a single point in the Shamrock Rovers fixture. A week after they lost to Galway United and Peamount took a win in May. They earned five more points in the same games on the road which included an emphatic 4-1 at Peamount.
They have struggled to beat Peas at Tolka Park with just two wins from the last six league visits compared to three wins in six at PRL Park. Both goals scored in the home games with their rivals last year came from now departed Jessie Stapleton so others in the squad will need to step up in these critical six-point games.
Sligo Rovers – Defence
Sligo Rovers have performed credibly in the last two seasons as a new club finishing above both Cork City and Treaty United in back-to-back years. But having the league joint-most goals conceded (54) held them back from finishing any higher. Using three different goalkeepers, all teenagers, during the season made it difficult to find consistency.
Appointing Tommy Hewitt as manager could be a step towards fixing that. His 2022 Athlone Town team had the second-best defensive record in the division, improving along the way with 16 conceded in their final 22. It included clean sheets in wins against Shelbourne and Peamount. Bringing with him defender Keley Munroe and midfielder Muireann Devaney, who played in 23 and 24 league games for Athlone that year, should certainly help.
Treaty United – Find a best 11
2024 begins a new era in Limerick with many new faces on and off the pitch. With many new players joining from outside the league, there will be an integration phase required as those settle. They join the second-youngest squad in the league from last season (21.3) with 40 players used during the course of the season.
With a manager in his first job in Dominic Foley there will be a lot to figure out. For a team without a win in 30 home games, getting an early first win there would be a great start to the era.
Wexford – Combine attacking talent
Wexford came into last season with two major scoring additions to their squad. Rianna Jarrett returned to a club where she had scored 27 and 26 goals in her previous seasons (2018 and 2019). Also coming in was Emily Corbet from Athlone Town having registered 20 goals in 2022.
While stalwart Kylie Murphy remained and was coming off consecutive 15-goal seasons at Ferrycarrig Park.
However, the trio combined for just 16 goals (Murphy six, Corbet and Jarrett five each). They struggled in games with both strikers Corbet and Jarrett starting, averaging 1.16 goals and points in the six games. In the others, they averaged 1.71 goals and 1.5 points. They started the first four games of the season together but back-to-back losses led to a change of plan. Two other instances later in the season led to a draw with Cork City and a 5-0 loss to Shelbourne. Three of Jarrett’s goals came with just her on the pitch and two of Corbet’s.
Injuries prevented Jarrett from playing in more than 11 league games so with more time and the return of Ellen Molley to give opposing defences even more headaches, there’s more than enough talent to bring Wexford back to title contention.
This shows how varied the ambitions of all the clubs in the league will be ranging from expectations of winning the league to getting off the bottom. Success can come in different forms and the league looks like being more competitive throughout.
Peamount were clearly the league’s best team in 2023 but the cups allowed other teams improve to have their own piece of glory. The other clubs will need to make their own improvements to usurp them and this Saturday we will begin to see who has what it takes to better themselves, and their rivals.
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