Shamrock Rovers Ladies F.C.

Shamrock Rovers Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. It is the women's section of the League of Ireland club Shamrock Rovers FC.

Shamrock Rovers F.C.

Full name	Shamrock Rovers Football Club
Nickname(s)	Hoops, Rovers
Founded	1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Ground	Tallaght Stadium
Capacity	8,000^[1]^[2]
Head Coach	Collie O'Neill
League	Women's National League
2023	3rd
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Shamrock Rovers were one of the most successful teams in women's association football in the Republic of Ireland, winning both the Dublin Women's Soccer League and the FAI Women's Cup five times in a row. In 2002–03 Shamrock Rovers became the first women's team to represent the Republic of Ireland in Europe, and in 2011–12 they were founder members of the Women's National League. In November 2022, it was confirmed that Shamrock Rovers would be re-entering the Women's National League for the 2023 season after a nine-year hiatus.

History

1990s

In the early 1990s Denis Power helped establish Castle Rovers FC, a women's football club founded by employees of the Irish civil service. Castle Rovers played in the Dublin Women's Soccer League and were league champions in 1995 and 1996. In 1996 they also won the FAI Women's Cup. In 1996 this club was taken over by Shamrock Rovers. With a team that included Olivia O'Toole, Rovers went on to become one of the leading Republic of Ireland women's football teams during the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning four successive Dublin Women's Soccer League and FAI Women's Cup "doubles" between 1998 and 2001.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup

After winning the 2001 FAI Women's Cup, Shamrock Rovers qualified for the 2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup. They played in Group 3, finishing third.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Frankfurt	3	3	0	0	17	1	+16	9
2	Masinac Niš	3	2	0	1	10	3	+7	6
3	Shamrock Rovers	3	1	0	2	5	12	−7	3
4	Osijek	3	0	0	3	1	17	−16	0

Source: ^[10]

25 September 2002

Shamrock Rovers	3–1	Osijek
O'Toole   5' O'Neill   48' Kirwan   65'		Koljenik   33'

Niš

---

27 September 2002

Masinac Niš	4–1	Shamrock Rovers
Vukčević   33' Mladenović   56' Stefanović   74', 79'		O'Toole   45'

Niš

---

29 September 2002

Frankfurt	7–1	Shamrock Rovers
Jones   7', 30' Wunderlich   26' Barucha   42' Woock   62' Lingor   72' Meier   86'		O'Toole   21'

Niš

2024

Shamrock Rovers confirmed that 50% of their season ticket sales would be donated to Women's Aid. A charitable foundation that combats domestic abuse.^[11]

Women's National League

In 2011–12, together with Peamount United, Castlebar Celtic, Cork Women's FC, Raheny United and Wexford Youths, Rovers were founder members of the Women's National League (WNL).^[12] Rovers played just three seasons in the WNL. In both 2011–12^[13] and 2012–13^[14] they finished bottom of the league and at the end of the 2013–14 season they withdrew.^[15]

Revival

In November 2022 it was confirmed that Rovers' senior women's team would come back ahead of the 2023 season, with former UCD manager Collie O'Neill managing them.^[16] That month Áine O'Gorman became their first signing, from Peamount United. They then signed two more from Peamount: first young goalkeeper Summer Lawless, then Alannah McEvoy.^[17][18] On 4 December they signed their first non-Peamount signing, Jessica Hennessey from Athlone Town.^[19] On 7 December, four of Rovers' U19 players (Maria Reynolds, Abby Tuthill, Jaime Thompson and Orlaith O'Mahony) were promoted to the WNL team.^[20] On 8 December, Rovers announced the signing of the 2014 Puskás Award runner-up and Republic of Ireland international Stephanie Roche.^[21]

Players

Current squad

As of 19 February 2023^[22]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   IRL Amanda Budden 2 DF   IRL Jessica Gargan 3 DF   IRL Savannah McCarthy 4 DF   IRL Shauna Fox 5 DF   IRL Jessica Hennessy 6 MF   IRL Maria Reynolds 8 DF   IRL Aoife Kelly 9 FW   IRL Alannah McEvoy 10 FW   IRL Stephanie Roche 11 FW   IRL Lia O'Leary

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 FW   IRL Áine O'Gorman 14 FW   IRL Lauren Kelly 15 DF   IRL Orlaith O'Mahony 16 DF   IRL Abby Tuthill 17 MF   IRL Alannah Prizeman 18 DF   IRL Aoibhe Fleming 21 MF   IRL Jaime Thompson 22 DF   IRL Melissa O'Kane 21 DF   IRL Chloe McCarthy 25 GK   IRL Summer Lawless 30 GK   IRL Jayne Merren

Former players

For a list of all current and former Shamrock Rovers F.C. (women) players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Shamrock Rovers Ladies F.C. players.

Notable former coaches

•   Synan Braddish
•   Grainne Kierans

Honours

Castle Rovers

• Dublin Women's Soccer League
  • Winners: 1995, 1996: 2
• FAI Women's Cup
  • Winners: 1996: 1

Shamrock Rovers

• Dublin Women's Soccer League
  • Winners: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002: 5
  • Runners-up: 1997, 2003, 2004: 3
• FAI Women's Cup
  • Winners: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001: 5
  • Runners-up: 2002: 1
• DWSL Premier Cup
  • Winners: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002: 5^[23]
• WNL Cup
  • Runners-up: 2012: 1

References

1. Tallaght Stadium 7 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 January 2012
2. Echo.ie 6 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 12 October 2018
3. "EL Clubs with Women's teams". foot.ie. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
4. www.fai.ie
5. FAI Women's Cup Rsssf
6. Women's league champions Rsssf
7. www.fai.ie
8. Fan Hong, J. A. Mangan (2004). Soccer, Women, Sexual Liberation: Kicking Off a New Era. Frank Cass Publishers.
9. Kausik Bandyopadhyay, Sabyasachi Mallick (2008). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge.
10. 2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup Rsssf
11. Diamond, Drew (1 February 2024). "Shamrock Rovers give 50% of season ticket sales to Women's Aid". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
12. "UEFA funding helps women's national football league launch in Republic of Ireland". UEFA. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
13. 2011–12 WNL season Rsssf
14. 2012–13 WNL season Rsssf
15. "Fixtures 2014–15 announced". wnl.fai.ie. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
16. Locke, Cian (8 November 2022). "Galway and Shamrock Rovers approved to enter Women's National League". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
17. Gleeson, Bill (26 November 2022). "Summer's Here! - Shamrock Rovers - Ireland U19 goalie signs for the Hoops". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
18. Lynch, Mark (30 November 2022). "Shamrock Rovers F.C. announces its third Women's National League signing - Shamrock Rovers - The club is delighted to announce the signing of striker, Alannah McEvoy, for our new WNL team for next season. The former Peamount United player". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
19. Lynch, Mark (4 December 2022). ".Jessica Hennessy signs! - Shamrock Rovers - Latest addition to our WNL squad". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
20. Gleeson, Bill (7 December 2022). "More signings for Shamrock Rovers 2023 Women's Senior Squad - Shamrock Rovers - Graduates from the 2022 U19 WNL squad". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
21. Gleeson, Bill (8 December 2022). "Stephanie Roche joins the Hoops! - Shamrock Rovers - Legendary Irish International star signs for Rovers". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
22. "Player Profiles". Shamrock Rovers F.C. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
23. "Dundalk City cup joy". The Irish Independent. 17 October 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2016.