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Cork City FC Women

Full name	Cork City Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Rebel Army, The Leesiders
Founded	2011; 13 years ago (2011) (as Cork Women's FC)
Ground	Turners Cross
Capacity	7,485
Manager	Danny Murphy
League	Women's National League
2024	9th
Website	https://www.corkcityfc.ie
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Cork City FC Women is an Irish women's association football team, based in Cork city. Originally playing at Bishopstown Stadium, since the 2021 Women's National League season, the team has played its home games at Turners Cross Stadium. 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. In 2014 they affiliated with FORAS, the supporters' trust behind Cork City FC, and relaunched as Cork City Women's F.C.. The club claimed their first national silverware by winning the FAI Women's Cup in 2017, and merged "fully" with Cork City FC ahead of the 2018 season. Previously known as Cork City Women's FC, as of 2024 the team is known as Cork City FC Women.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

2015–2024

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.

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

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

The team came fourth in the 2020 WNL League competition, and reached the 2020 FAI Women's Cup Final, losing out to Peamount United. The club came 8th in the 2021 league, 9th in the 2022 season, and last (11th) in 2023.

Cork City FC Womens (CCFCW) played their last game of the 2024 season at Leeside FC's ground in Little Island, as both Turners Cross and St Colman's Park in Cobh were ruled out due to weather issues. CCFCW were defeated by Sligo Rovers, and finished 9th in the 2024 table.

Stadia

For several seasons, Cork City FC Women 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.

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, 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".

League placings

Players

Current squad

As of 7 April 2024.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  IRL Lauren Walsh 3 DF  IRL Shaunagh McCarthy 4 DF  IRL Ciara McNamara 5 DF  IRL Heidi Mackin 6 MF  IRL Jesse Mendez 7 FW  IRL Kiera Sena 8 MF  IRL Orlaith O'Mahony 9 FW  IRL Christina Dring 10 MF  IRL Eva Mangan 11 FW  IRL Aoibhin Donnelly 13 MF  IRL Ellie O'Brien

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  IRL Heidi O'Sullivan 15 MF  IRL Chloe Atkinson 16 FW  IRL Laura Shine 17 MF  IRL Niamh Cotter 18 MF  IRL Aoife Robinson 19 FW  IRL Erin O'Brien 20 GK  IRL Clodagh Fitzgerald 22 FW  USA Colleen Kennedy O'Connell 23 MF  GER Dorothea Greulich 24 DF  IRL Alix Mendez 26 GK  IRL Hannah Walsh

Notable former players

Republic of Ireland women's internationals

• Marie Curtin
• Sylvia Gee
• Denise O'Sullivan
• Clare Shine

Cork ladies' Gaelic footballers

• Valerie Mulcahy
• Saoirse Noonan

Managers

Year/s	Manager
2011-2012	Dave Bell
2012	Ronán Collins
2012–2014	Maurice Farrell
2014–2015	Charlie Lynch
2015–2016	Niall O'Regan
2016–2018	Frank Kelleher
2018–2021	Ronán Collins
2021–2022	Paul Farrell
2022–present	Danny Murphy

See also

• League of Ireland in Cork city

References

1. ^ Duffy, Emma (2 February 2021). "'A huge step for the club' - Cork City women to play home matches at Turner's Cross". the42.ie. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
2. "FAI announce new Women's League". RTÉ News. 3 August 2011. 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. ^ Fallon, John (5 November 2017). "Moment of magic wins Women's FAI Cup final for Cork City". independent.ie. Independent News & Media.
5. ^ Gallagher, Aaron (28 January 2018). "Cork City announce merger with cup-winning women's team as club unveil new away kits for 2018". the42.ie. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
6. "Women's Weekend Preview". corkcityfc.ie. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
7. "Bus Eireann Women's League ready for kick-off". sseairtricityleague.ie. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015.
8. Cashell, Louise (3 August 2011). "The dream is finally becoming a reality". Cork Independent. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
9. McNamara, Peter (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.
10. Cashell, Louise (15 August 2013). "New players for Cork Women's FC". Cork Independent. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
11. McCarthy, Kieran (2 May 2014). "Maurice Farrell departs Cork Women's FC". Southern Star.
12. McSweeney, Joseph (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.
13. Clarke, Aaron (5 May 2015). "WNL 2014/15 season - As it happened". extratime.ie. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
14. ^ "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.
15. "WNL Shield 2018 Development Shield". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
16. "Wexford Youths lift Women's NL Shield after shoot-out victory". the42.ie. Journal Media. 7 October 2018.
17. "2019 Women's National League Table". ExtraTime.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
18. "2020 Women's National League Table". extratime.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
19. Malone, Emmet (12 December 2020). "Stephanie Roche tees things up perfectly as Peamount wrap up double". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
20. "2021 Women's National League Table". extratime.com. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
21. ^ "Women's National League 2022 Season". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022.
22. O'Connell, Dylan (11 November 2023). "Cork City finish bottom of Women's Premier Division after home loss to Shelbourne". The Echo. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
23. ^ "2023 League of Ireland Women's Premier Division - Table". extratime.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024.
24. ^ O'Shea, John (6 October 2024). "Cork City end on a low with home defeat to Sligo Rovers". echolive.ie. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
25. "SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division - Tables". leagueofireland.ie. Archived from the original on 29 October 2024.
26. Buckley, Éanna (4 March 2010). "McCarthy Developments Announced as Community Partner". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
27. Donovan, Shane (12 October 2022). "Cork City secure use of Turner's Cross for next 20 years". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
28. "Women's National League 2021 Season - Table". wnl.fai.ie. FAI. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
29. ^ "Cork City FC Women's First Team". corkcityfc.ie. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
30. "Rónán Collins appointed interim manager of Women's Team". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. 9 May 2018.
31. "Farrell appointed manager of Women's Team". corkcityfc.ie. Cork City FC. 17 November 2021.
32. O'Connell, Barbara (30 May 2022). "Former Cork City star Danny Murphy is the new manager of the Cork City women's team". Echolive.ie. Echolive.

External links

• Cork City FC page at the LOI Women's Premier Division website

• Cork City W.F.C.
• Association football clubs established in 2011
• Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland
• Association football clubs in County Cork
• 2011 establishments in Ireland
• Women's National League (Ireland) teams
• Association football clubs in Cork (city)