Women's Premier Division Preview: Waterford aiming to make their mark on debut season
DEBUT BLUES: Lauren Walsh, Erin O'Brien, Dan Burke, Chloe Atkinson and Lauren Egbuloniu during a Waterford FC squad portraits session. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Colin Fortune.
Champions. Fifth/FAI Cup winners. Runners-up.
Pressure is on. Despite losing manager Ciarán Kilduff within hours of the FAI Cup defeat, Athlone have retained most of their key players, bar captain Laurie Ryan for personal reasons.
Athlone remain a club where the women’s team is prioritised.
Maddie Gibson.
Still a matchwinner on her day, the American has rebuffed offers to remain in the Midlands and will be a critical cog under the new manager.
Fourth.
Alban Hysa.
Eight. Sixth. Seventh.
Improvement. Dalymount has witnessed the odd impressive win without a consistency of results to consider Bohs a team capable of challenging towards the top.
Recruitment was steady rather than spectacular.
Hannah Healy.
A breakout star at 15 with Shels, perhaps leaving the Reds was required and the 17-year-old midfielder will be given a leading role by her experienced boss.
Eight.
Frank Kelleher.
Ninth. 11th. Ninth.
Must do better. The manager who steered City to the 2017 FAI Cup is back and players are finally being remunerated on an incentivised basis. They can only hope the experience, however testing, endured by their young squad stands to them this year.
Eva Mangan.
Rejected offers from English Championship clubs to stay in Cork and the captain’s contribution will be crucial if City are to escape the lower reaches.
Ninth.
Laura Heffernan.
Tenth. Eight. Fifth.
Modest. Inexperience cost them goals last year and the lack of firepower at the opposite end was reflected by a measly 15 goals in 20 games. A project for former league winning coach Laura Heffernan to extract more than the sum of parts.
Nadine Clare.
The midfielder returns after a two-year stint at Shelbourne with the motivation to prove she’s one of the league’s most reliable talents.
Tenth.
Phil Trill.
Third. Fourth. Sixth.
Title challenge. Back-to-back All-Ireland titles and consistently higher positions over the past few years indicate Galway’s trajectory. Still, losing Julie-Ann Russell (retired) and Jenna Slattery (Hearts) will adversely impact them.
Niamh Farrelly.
Accomplished defender has played around Europe and enjoyed success at Peamount. She’ll be a bedrock of Trill’s terriers.
Second.
Emma Donohoe.
Sixth. Champions. Third.
An upturn. There was a sharp decline last year, leading veteran manager James O’Callaghan to feel another pair of eyes and ears were required.
They remain laced with talent – the task is Emma Donohoe and Gary Seery sculpting them into a cohesive unit.
Jess Fitzgerald.
A stellar talent who has already been promoted to the Ireland senior squad at 18. Enjoy her while she’s still operating in Ireland.
Seventh.
Ready for the start of the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division tomorrow 😍
— LOI Women (@LoiWomen) March 7, 2025
Our Women’s National Team stars reppin’ their former LOI clubs 👏 pic.twitter.com/RXDvqnLrFc
Collie O’Neill.
Fifth. Third (first season).
Always high. Last year’s regression prompted changes and they’ve lost Jason Carey from the backroom team with Stephanie Zambra becoming assistant after retiring.
They’re depending on youth to fill the void, always a challenge when the ambition is to garner a reputation for consistency.
Katie Keane.
Ireland’s top teen goalkeeper swapped Athlone for Rovers and has a move cross-channel on her career path. Hoops need to use her strengths to shore up goals conceded.
Fifth
Eoin Wearen.
Second. Runners-up. Double winners.
To wrest their crown back to Tolka. Miniscule head-to-head stats denied Shels nudging Athlone out for the crown and they’ve tweaked, rather than overhauled, the squad to ensure they get over the line.
Their experienced bunch, led by Noelle Murray and Pearl Slattery, will be crucial.
Kate Mooney.
Her brace in the FAI Cup final romp over Athlone underlined the striker’s quality and she’s got plenty more in her armoury.
Champions.
Steve Feeney.
Bottom. Ninth. Eight.
Realistic. Last year’s failure to reach double-figures in points should constitute the nadir and the reappointment of Feeney was intended to reset. From such a lowly position, attracting players is a task but he’s retained the core local base, revolving around doyen Emma Hansberry.
Emma Hansberry.
Still only 30, she’s a wealth of experience – and medals from Wexford – to guide her local club. Keeping her fit and installed as a foundation will be instrumental to their prospects.
Bottom.
Sean Russell.
Seventh. Second from bottom. bottom.
To maintain incremental strides. Ciara McCormack, as new chief executive under US heavyweight Tricor Pacific Capital, was supportive to the squad and has appointed another former player, Russell, to the hotseat.
With a raft of imports complementing 10 players graduating through their underage set-up, the Limerick side are developing into a template for others.
Madison McGuane.
The Ireland underage international has been touted as a breakthrough star. This could be her year.
Sixth.
Gary Hunt.
None – new to the senior ranks.
Consolidation. Not quite starting from scratch as they’ve fielded underage teams but this first season will be fascinating for the Blues. Hunt is full-time at the club, reflecting a broader outlook, but he’s recruited gnarly salts from Wexford and Cork City to act as a fulcrum for youth to prosper.
Chloe Atkinson.
One of the ex-Cork City players among their Munster rivals’ ranks, the 20-year-old striker possesses clinical finishing skills. All it hinges on are her teammates supplying the service.
Eleventh.
Pat Trehy.
Fourth. Seventh. Fourth.
Sustain last year’s revival. Another change of management, with former Bohs duo Sean Byrne and Pat Trehy assuming the helm. They’re trusting seasoned performers such as Kylie Murphy and Ciara Rossiter as well as capture from Cork City, Becky Cassin, to lead from the front. No reason why they can’t mix it with the usual suspects for the title.
Ellen Molloy.
Her move to Sheffield United didn’t work but Molloy has ability to burn and should thrive within the environment she feels most comfortable.
Third.
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