Limerick Women's Football Club was an Irish association football club based in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. It is the women's section of Limerick F.C. Their senior women's team made their debut in the Women's National League in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. However the club has been organising women's teams, often in conjunction with the Limerick Women's & Schoolgirls' Soccer League, since at least

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. Limerick have been credited as the inaugural winners of both the Ladies League of Ireland and the

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 ...

. Ladies team was dissolved after financial collapse of Limerick F.C. main division.

History

1970s

Limerick F.C. organised a women's team during the 1970s. In

Limerick were both founding members and the inaugural champions of an earlier incarnation of the Women's National League known as the Ladies League of Ireland or the Woman's League of Ireland. Limerick were among its twelve founder members. Like Limerick, other founder members included several teams associated with clubs in the men's

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

. These included

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

, Cork Celtic,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

. Limerick finished the 1973 season as champions after going unbeaten in a fifteen match series. In a post season friendly they lost 3–1 to a touring Stade de Rheims at

Markets Field The Markets Field is a UEFA category two stadium in Garryowen, Limerick, Ireland with a capacity of around 3,500. Formerly the home of Limerick FC, it is currently the home ground of Treaty United. The ground has hosted underage internatio ...

. Limerick have also been credited as the inaugural winners of the

. Although the

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

archives only list finals from 1989, a match programme from a 1978 international between the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

confirmed that the FAI Women's Cup was first played for in 1975 with Limerick defeating C.S.O. (Dublin) 2–1 in the final.

LWSSL

The Limerick Women's & Schoolgirls' Soccer League was formed in

. The LWSSL representative team with the support of Limerick F.C. enters teams in various inter-league competitions. Between 2006 and 2011 a Limerick F.C./LWSSL team regularly entered the

Women's National League

In January 2018 it was announced that Limerick F.C. would be entering a team in the Women's National League for the 2018 season. On 11 March 2018, with a team that included

Marie Curtin Marie Claire Curtin (born 7 August 1985) is a former professional footballer who played for Republic of Ireland women's national football team. Curtin played for several clubs in the Women's National League (Ireland), Women's National League, i ...

and Sylvia Gee, Limerick made their debut in the WNL with a 4–0 win at

against Kilkenny United.

2019 squad

Notable players

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
women's internationals

* Sylvia Gee

Honours

* Ladies League of Ireland **''Winners'': 1973, 1974, 1975: 3 *

**''Winners'': 1975: 1

References

{{Women's National League (Ireland) Association football clubs in County Limerick 1973 establishments in Ireland 2020 disestablishments in Ireland Association football clubs established in 1973 Association football clubs disestablished in 2020 Defunct women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Former Women's National League (Ireland) teams W.F.C.