Galway W.F.C.

Galway W.F.C.
Full nameGalway Women's Football Club
Nickname(s)The Galway Girls[1][2]
GroundEamonn Deacy Park
Capacity5,000 (3,300 seated)

Galway Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe) was an Irish association football club based in Galway. It is the women's section of the League of Ireland club Galway United. Since 2013–14 the club played in the Women's National League (WNL) and did so as Galway WFC until 2022. Throughout its existence the club has been closely associated with both the Galway Ladies League and the Galway Football Association. The WNL team had its origins in the Galway Ladies League representative team that won the 2007 FAI Women's Cup and then represented the Republic of Ireland in the 2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup. The Galway Ladies League and its member clubs, such as Salthill Devon, Galway Bohemians, Corrib Celtic, Colga F.C. and NUI Galway, served as a feeder system for Galway WFC.

History

2000s

During the 2000s, representative teams of women's leagues began to enter the FAI Women's Cup. In 2006 a team representing the Galway Ladies League were semi-finalists, losing after extra time and penalties to UCD. A team representing the Mayo Ladies League subsequently defeated UCD in the final.[3][4] In 2007 the Galway Ladies League reached the final with a team that included Niamh Fahey, Méabh De Búrca and Julie-Ann Russell. All three were also playing for Salthill Devon. On 14 October 2007 at Dalymount Park, Galway defeated a Raheny United team that included Niamh Reid Burke and Olivia O'Toole. Fahey's penalty in the 75th minute gave the Galway Girls a 1–0 win.[5][6] In 2008 Galway were FAI Women's Cup semi-finalists, losing 2–1 to Peamount United.[7] In 2009 they were beaten 3–2 in the second round by St. Catherine's.[8]

2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup

As a result of winning the 2007 FAI Women's Cup, Galway qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland in the 2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup. They were drawn in Group A9 along with Zürich, Universitet Vitebsk and SFK Sarajevo. The competition format saw Galway travel to Sarajevo in September 2008 to play in a mini-tournament to decide who would progress to the next round. With a squad that included Méabh De Búrca and Julie-Ann Russell, Galway finished second after beating the pre-tournament favourites, Universitet Vitebsk.[9][10][11]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Switzerland Zürich 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7
2 Republic of Ireland Galway 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3 Belarus Universitet Vitebsk 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina SFK Sarajevo 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: [citation needed]
4 September 2008
Universitet Vitebsk - FC Zürich 1–1
SFK 2000 Sarajevo - Galway 0–0
6 September 2008
Universitet Vitebsk - Galway 0–2
FC Zürich - SFK 2000 Sarajevo 3–2
9 September 2008
SFK 2000 Sarajevo - Universitet Vitebsk 1–2
Galway - FC Zürich 0–2

Women's National League

In June 2013 the Football Association of Ireland announced Galway as an expansion team for the upcoming 2013–14 Women's National League season. Republic of Ireland women's national football team manager Susan Ronan welcomed the addition of Galway for helping make the league more national.[12] The 2013–14 Galway WNL squad included several veterans of the 2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup campaign including Susie Cunningham, Melissa Casserly and Becky Walsh.[13] Former Galway United manager Don O'Riordan was appointed manager of the women's club in June 2014, replacing Nigel Keady who had overseen the first season.[14]

Galway United

In September 2022 Galway WFC announced that it would "reluctantly" withdraw from the following season's Women's National League: "We hope that other individuals or entities will take up the mantle to continue the tradition of senior and underage women's football in Galway in 2023."[15] The local League of Ireland club Galway United released a statement on 5 October 2022 confirming that they would take over the running of Galway's women's teams for 2023.[16] Phil Trill, who had been Alan Murphy's assistant with Galway WFC in 2022, was appointed as the new head coach. He hoped to secure the bulk of the existing playing squad for the following season.[17]

Notable players

For a list of all former and current Galway W.F.C. players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Galway W.F.C. players.

women's internationals

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Galway WFC". fai.ie.
  2. ^ "Galway WFC - Get out on Sunday and support the Galway Girls - Facebook". facebook.com.
  3. ^ www.fai.ie
  4. ^ 2006 FAI Women's Cup Rsssf
  5. ^ "Galway League 1–0 Raheny United". RTÉ. 14 October 2007. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  6. ^ 2007 FAI Women's Cup Rsssf
  7. ^ 2008 FAI Women's Cup Rsssf
  8. ^ "Ireland (Women) 2009". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ^ www.advertiser.ie
  10. ^ 2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup Rsssf
  11. ^ www.uefa.com
  12. ^ Kelly, Keith (13 June 2013). "Galway women come together to form new National League side". Connacht Tribune. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  13. ^ wnl.fai.ie
  14. ^ "Galway WFC appoints former United manager O'Riordan". Galway Advertiser. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  15. ^ Duffy, Emma (11 September 2022). "Galway WFC 'reluctantly decide' not to apply for 2023 WNL inclusion". The42.ie. TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  16. ^ Duffy, Emma (5 October 2022). "Galway United to enter team into 2023 Women's National League". The42.ie. TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Galway United manager Trill wants us all behind club's new women's teams". Galway Advertiser. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.