Athlone Town Association Football Club Ladies is an Irish association football club based in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

. In February 2020 the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

(FAI) announced the formation of the club as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

for the upcoming 2020 Women's National League season. It is the women's section of

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

. The senior team plays in the Women's National League while a junior team competes at Women's Under 17 National League level.

History

In July 2018 Athlone Town were among 11 founding clubs in a new Under-17 Women's National League. In November 2019, the club's application to join the senior Women's National League for the following 2020 season was accepted. The first match was originally scheduled for March 2020, however, the team was made to wait until 15 August 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Ireland, it has resulted in 1,753,206 cases ...

which delayed the start of the season. The first game ended in an encouraging 1–0 defeat by Wexford Youths. On 5 September 2020 the club secured their first goals and first win, beating fellow newcomers

Treaty United Treaty United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Limerick. The club was founded in 2020 following the demise of Limerick F.C. and began playing in the League of Ireland Women's Premier Division in 2020 followed by th ...

3–2 with goals from Katelyn Keogh, Paula Doran and Kellie Brennan. They finished the shortened season joint-sixth of nine teams with a record. A separate independent women's football club named Bealnamulla LFC come from the Athlone area. They reached the national

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI Cup. Organised ...

final in 2000, but were beaten 7–0 by

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

, the dominant team of the era. Five members of Athlone Town's inaugural squad were former Bealnamulla players. Athlone Town won the 2023 FAI Women's Cup Final at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

on 19 November 2023, beating Shelbourne 4–3 on penalties after drawing 2–2. Athlone Town won the 2023-24 Premier Division, with a round of matches to spare, securing a spot in the 2025–26 Champions League preliminary round.

Honours

* Women's National League **''Winners (1)'':

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

**''Runners-up (1)'': 2022 *

**''Winners (1)'': 2023 **''Runners-up (2)'': 2022, 2024

Players

Current squad

References

External links

*{{Twitter, AfcAthlone

Ladies ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

2020 establishments in Ireland Association football clubs established in 2020 Association football clubs in Leinster Organisations based in Athlone Sport in Athlone Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Women's National League (Ireland) teams