Kilkenny United Women's Football Club is an Irish

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

team, based in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. In July 2015 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 2015–16 Women's National League season. Kilkenny United WFC played in the Women's National League until

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, but won only one match in five seasons.

History

2015–16

In July 2015 the

(FAI) announced the formation of the club as an

for the upcoming 2015–16 Women's National League season. The club played its first match on 19 July 2015, hosting

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Buckley Park Buckley Park is a multi-purpose stadium on the Callan Road ( N76), near Kilkenny, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the islan ...

. Ahead of the first WNL season experienced campaigner Sylvia Gee was signed. In game week 8 of the 2015-16 season Kilkenny United recorded their first ever point, with a draw. They drew 1–1 with Cork City W.F.C. The club ended the campaign with one point on the board.

2016

Kilkenny recorded their first win in the 2016 season when they were drawn agains
Lakewood
in the quarter-finals of the FAI Women's Senior Cup. Kilkenny came out 3–1 winners with goals from Jenny O'Keeffe, Niamh Kelly and Hannah Scott. Kilkenny United commenced to the semi-finals of the cup but lost out to a strong

Wexford Youths W.F.C. Wexford Football Club Women, formerly known as Wexford Youths Women, is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. It is the women's section of the League ...

in the semi-finals. The 2016 League campaign didn't go as planned for Kilkenny, with the club failing to pick up any points throughout the season.

2017

The 2017 season didn't start as planned as Kilkenny went through numerous managers before finally getting the right man for the job on 20 June 2017. Kilkenny United appointed Casey McQuillan who had much experience in the league from previously managing Shelbourne L.F.C. and Raheny United FC. On 9 July 2017, history was made for Kilkenny in Thomastown when Kilkenny won their first and only game in the Women's National League. They beat Galway W.F.C 1–0 which was a very historic day for the club. The Kilkenny goal came from Leanne Tumelty. Kilkenny United ended the season with 3 points and a single win on the board. Kilkenny also recorded a win in the quarter-finals of the FAI Women's Senior Cup when they beat TEK United 3–1. Kilkenny's goals were scored by Jennifer Chambers (2) and Sylvia Gee. Kilkenny were drawn against UCD Waves in the semi-finals of the cup but slipped at the last hurdle and lost out on a trip to the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

2018

At the start of the 2018 season Casey McQuillan stepped down as manager of the club. Kilkenny started off the 2018 season at debutantes Limerick WFC and were beaten 4–0. The club introduced an Under 16 squad which they entered into the Kilkenny & District League. On 12 July 2018 Kilkenny United announced a link-up with Real Football academy Swans. They announced their intention to set up a pathway to the Women's National League for the Real FA Swans players.

2019

In 2019, Kilkenny garnered two points. The club's off-field operation also began to unravel, with reasons such as matches being played in another venue, and the lack of a

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Dismissal from the Women's National League

The

(FAI) unexpectedly threw Kilkenny United out of the Women's National League ahead of the 2020 season. The reasons given included the club's failure to bond with their local women's leagues, changing their home ground, not training in Kilkenny, having an unqualified coach, failing to fulfil a fixture and having consistently poor results and feeble performances. After a failed appeal, the club disagreed with the FAI's decision and released a lengthy statement in January 2020. The club decided to continue playing at Wexford League level and re-emerged in August 2020.

References

External links

* {{Women's National League (Ireland) Association football clubs established in 2015 Association football clubs in County Kilkenny 2015 establishments in Ireland Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Women's National League (Ireland) teams