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, as of the 2021 Women's National League season, the club are due to play home games at Turners Cross Stadium.[2] 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.[3] In 2014 they affiliated with FORAS, the supporters' trust who own Cork City FC, and relaunched as Cork City Women's FC.[4] The club claimed their first national silverware by winning the FAI Women's Cup in 2017.[5]

Cork City F.C. 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
ManagerRonán Collins[1]
LeagueWomen's National League
Women's Under 17 National League
20204th
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. After a strong finish, the club came third behind Dublin duo Raheny United and Peamount United.

The 2012–13 season brought a new manager, as Maurice Farrell was appointed head coach.[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. Player injuries and changes resulted in a difficult season and 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 after two seasons in Cork. 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]

2015–2020

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.[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]

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.[19]

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 2021, the club are due to return to Turners Cross.[2]

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

Players

2021 squad
As of 21 January 2021

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  IRL Nathalie O’Brien
3 DF  IRL Danielle Burke
4 DF  IRL Ciara McNamara
5 DF  IRL Zara Foley
6 MF  IRL
7 FW  IRL Christina Dring
8 FW  IRL Eadaoin Lyons
9 MF  IRL Katie McCarthy
10 FW  IRL Saoirse Noonan
11 DF  IRL Éabha O'Mahony
13 GK  IRL Maria O’Sullivan
14 MF  IRL
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF  IRL
17 MF  IRL Riona Crowley
18 FW  IRL
19 FW  IRL Lauren Egbulonui
20 DF  IRL Shaunagh McCarthy
21 DF  IRL Emma Farmer
22 DF  IRL Kate O’Donovan
25 GK  IRL Abby McCarthy
26 MF  IRL Liz O’Connor
— MF  IRL Rebekah Cassin
— MF  IRL

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

Coaching staff

As of February 2021, the technical staff included:[1]

Position Name
Manager Ronán Collins
Coach Paul Farrell

Managers
Year/s Manager
2011-2012 Dave Bell
2012 Ronan Collins
2012-2014 Maurice Farrell
2014-2015 Charlie Lynch
2015-2016 Niall O'Regan
2016-2018 Frank Kelleher[13]
2018- Ronán Collins[20]

See also

References
  1. "Backroom Staff". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. Retrieved 3 February 2021. Women's Team [..] Manager: Ronán Collins [..] Assistant Manager: Paul Farrell
  2. "'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.
  3. RTÉ Sport (2011-08-03). "FAI announce new Women's League". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  4. "Cork Women's FC to re-launch". Supporters Direct. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. "Moment of magic wins Women's FAI Cup final for Cork City". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 5 November 2017.
  6. "Bus Eireann Women's League ready for kick-off". sseairtricityleague.ie.
  7. Louise Cashell (2011-08-03). "The dream is finally becoming a reality". Cork Independent. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  8. Peter McNamara (2012-08-01). "New Cork boss Farrell focuses on long term development". Extratime.ie. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  9. Louise Cashell (2013-08-15). "New players for Cork Women's FC". Cork Independent. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  10. Kieran McCarthy (2014-05-02). "Maurice Farrell departs Cork Women's FC". Southern Star.
  11. Joseph McSweeney (2014-06-23). "Cork Women's FC relaunched as Cork City W.F.C." Official Site. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  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. Buckley, Éanna (4 March 2010). "McCarthy Developments Announced as Community Partner". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  20. "Rónán Collins appointed interim manager of Women's Team". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. 9 May 2018.
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