Crusaders Strikers Football Club is a

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

club based in North Belfast,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The club was founded in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

as Newtownabbey Strikers and became a member of the

Northern Ireland Women's Football Association The Northern Ireland Women's Football Association (NIWFA) is the governing body of women's association football in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1977. History Prior to 1977, there was no organizing body for women's football in Northern Ire ...

in 1994. In 2009, Newtownabbey Strikers amalgamated with

Crusaders F.C. Crusaders Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, is based in north Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview. Crusaders originally played as a junior ...

to become Crusaders Strikers. The team has won the Women's Premier League of Northern Ireland six times

First-team squad

European record

In UEFA competitions the strikers have achieved two draws so far against FC Clujana Cluj and Maccabi Holon. The club played in the

2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League was the tenth edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held in London, England on 26 May 2011 at Craven Cottage. French side Olympique Lyon won the competition af ...

qualifying round hosting the mini-tournament but lost all their games.

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. T ...

: * 2003–04: 2nd qualifying round, 4th * 2004–05: 2nd qualifying round, 4th * 2006–07: 1st qualifying round, 4th

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

: *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

: qualifying round, 4th * 2011–12: qualifying round, 4th * 2013–14: qualifying round, 4th

Northern Ireland Internationals

; internationals * Julie Nelson ; U19 internationals * Beth Chalmers * Faith Johnston * Maddy Harvey-Clifford * Jessica Rea * Sasha Clare * Holly Otter * Rachel McLaren

Titles

Women's Premiership The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premi ...

:Winners (6): 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012 *

IFA Women's Challenge Cup ''For the equivalent tournament in the Republic of Ireland, see FAI Women's Cup.'' The IFA Women's Challenge Cup or Irish Women's Cup is the annual cup competition of women's football teams in Northern Ireland. Currently branded as Electric Irela ...

:Winners (2): 2005, 2011

Crusaders Strikers Football Development Centre/Girls Academy

Crusaders Strikers have the most established girls' Football Development Centre in Northern Ireland. Catering for girls aged 4–18 were the players can develop their football skills in a safe and inclusive environment. The FDC aims to bring girls through the pathway to senior football, while also promoting lifetime participation. The FDC has had a lot of success over the years, with a lot of the current first team being made up of academy graduates. The FDC/academy philosophy is 'to develop good players and good people.'

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crusaders Women's association football clubs in Northern Ireland 1992 establishments in Northern Ireland Crusaders F.C. Association football clubs established in 1992 Women's Premiership (Northern Ireland) teams