Cork City W.F.C.

Cork City W.F.C.
Full name Cork City Women's Football Club
Nickname(s) The Rebel Army, The Leesiders
Founded 2011 (2011)
(as Cork Women's FC)
Ground Bishopstown Stadium
Ground Capacity 2000
Chairman Chris O'Mahony
Manager Frank Kelleher
League Women's National League
2014-15 7th
Website Club website

Cork City Women's Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Chathair Chorcaí na mBan) is an Irish women's association football team, based in Cork. The club play in a green strip with a red and white diamond on the shirt and white hoops on the socks. The current crest is 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.[1] In 2014 they affiliated with FORAS, the supporters' trust who own Cork City FC, and relaunched as Cork City Women's FC.[2] The club play their games at Bishopstown Stadium.

History

2011–12

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.[3] 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, Ciara O’Connell and Clare Shine under the management of Dave Bell.[4] The club had some mixed results on the field 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 Leesiders came third behind Dublin duo Raheny United and Peamount United. Peamount won the competition outright and sealed a double that season by also winning the Cup.

2012–13

A new season brought a new manager as Maurice Farrell was appointed head coach.[5] There was also much change in the playing staff as several players like Katie McCarthy, Marie Curtin and Sylvia Gee departed while a young team impressed in patches but was disrupted by injury, especially to Irish international Denise O’Sullivan. The club also moved to Turners Cross stadium for the following season. The injury problems and changes in playing staff resulted in a difficult season and the club finished second-bottom of the league.

2013–14

For the third season of existence, the club underwent a significant transition in players as effectively a new team was signed due to departures.[6] Irish International Denise O'Sullivan was the highest profile departure – sealing a move to Scottish club Glasgow City after two seasons in Cork. The club also began tentative discussions with FORAS Trust which allowed the club to play home games at Bishopstown Stadium. A difficult season followed as the team failed to register a point and only scored two goals all season. At the end of the season, Maurice Farrell departed the club.[7] Off the pitch, the club strengthened ties with COPE Foundation and the Cork Institute of Technology during the year.

2014–15

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.[8] The club continued to play matches at Bishopstown stadium. Former Gaynor Cup-winning manager for Cork, Charlie Lynch, was appointed manager of the club 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 experienced some tight defeats and narrow draws – leading to another season without a single league win. The club controversially forfeited their final league fixture against Raheny United, failing to field a team. This deprived Raheny's Katie McCabe of an opportunity to claim the WNL Golden Boot.[9]

2015–16

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.[10]

Stadia

Cork City W.F.C. play their home games at Bishopstown Stadium in Curaheen. The Stadium was developed by former Cork City F.C. chairman Pat O'Donovan in 1994 as the new home for the club. However, due to the poor finances of the club the ground was sold to first the Football Association of Ireland who held onto the ground in the short term while the club was trying to resolve its financial problems. They later sold the ground to McCarthy Developments of Cork who while waiting for planning laws to be changed, have rented the ground to Cork City F.C. as a training and administrative base.[11]

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 on to Bishopstown Stadium.

League placings

Season Points Total Position
2011–12 20 3rd
2012–13 14 6th
2013–14 0 8th
2014–15 2 7th

Players

2015–16 squad

As of 3 January 2016.[12]

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

No. Position Player
Republic of Ireland GK Trish Fennelly
Republic of Ireland GK Chelsea Noonan
Republic of Ireland GK Amy O'Reilly
Republic of Ireland DF Angie Carry
Republic of Ireland DF Ciara McNamara
Republic of Ireland DF Natalie O’Brien
Republic of Ireland DF Mary Barrett
Republic of Ireland DF Sophie Hurley
Republic of Ireland DF Megan Carroll
Republic of Ireland MF Stacey Paul
Republic of Ireland MF Barbara O'Connell
No. Position Player
Republic of Ireland MF Maggie Duncliffe
Republic of Ireland MF Shannon Carson
Republic of Ireland MF Katie McCarthy
Republic of Ireland MF Rebecca Walsh
Republic of Ireland MF Amy Quinn
Republic of Ireland MF Ciara Desmond
Republic of Ireland MF Tara O'Gorman
Republic of Ireland MF Kate O Donavon
Republic of Ireland FW Evelyn Daly
Republic of Ireland FW Megan O'Keeffe
Republic of Ireland FW Saoirse Noonan

Notable former players

Republic of Ireland women's internationals

Coaching staff

As of 25 August 2016 the technical staff reportedly included:[13]

Position Name
Manager Frank Kelleher
Coaches Richie Holland
Ivan Bevan
Eileen Ring
Kieran Dunlea
Paul Hunt
Club Physio Gráinne Desmond[14]
Head Of Youth Development Charlie Lynch[14]
Supporter Liaison Officer Áine O'Donovan[14]

Cork City W.F.C. managers

Year/s Manager
2011-2012 England Dave Bell
2012 Republic of Ireland Ronan Collins
2012-2014 Republic of Ireland Maurice Farrell
2014-2015 Republic of Ireland Charlie Lynch
2015-2016 Republic of Ireland Niall O'Regan
2016- Frank Kelleher[10]

See also

References

  1. RTÉ Sport (2011-08-03). "FAI announce new Women's League". RTÉ News. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  2. "Cork Women’s FC to re-launch". Supporters Direct. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  3. "Bus Eireann Women's League ready for kick-off". sseairtricityleague.ie.
  4. 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.
  5. Peter McNamara (2012-08-01). "New Cork boss Farrell focuses on long term development". Extratime.ie. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  6. Louise Cashell (2013-08-15). "New players for Cork Women's FC". Cork Independent. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  7. Kieran McCarthy (2014-05-02). "Maurice Farrell departs Cork Women's FC". Southern Star.
  8. Joseph McSweeney (2014-06-23). "Cork Women’s FC relaunched as Cork City W.F.C.". Official Site.
  9. Clarke, Aaron (5 May 2015). "WNL 2014/15 season - As it happened". extratime.ie. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 http://www.corkcitywomensfc.com/recentposts/frank-kelleher-appointed-cork-city-w-f-c-manager/
  11. Buckley, Éanna (4 March 2010). "McCarthy Developments Announced as Community Partner". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  12. "Squad". Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  13. "First Team Coaching Staff". Cork City W.F.C. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Club Directory". Cork City W.F.C. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
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