Sligo Rovers Football Club Women is an Irish association football club based in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

. In December 2021, 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 2022 Women's National League season. It is the women's section of

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 ...

. The senior team competes in the Women's National League, while the junior teams participate in the Women's Under 17 National League and Women's Under 19 National League level.

History

In July 2018 Sligo Rovers were among 11 founding clubs in a new Under-17 Women's National League. Club chairman Tommy Higgins affirmed his commitment to women's football in May 2021, while announcing his ambition to rebuild The Showgrounds using "a huge element of

public funding A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...

". In September 2021 the club announced plans to collaborate with

Institute of Technology, Sligo The Institute of Technology, Sligo (ITS; ) was an institute of technology, located in Sligo, Ireland. In April 2022, it was formally dissolved, and its functions became part of Atlantic Technological University (ATU). the institute had three f ...

, in fielding a senior women's team in the Women's National League from 2022. On 10 December 2021 the

(FAI) confirmed the acceptance of the club as an

for the upcoming 2022 Women's National League season. On 15 December 2021 former Rovers player Steve Feeney was appointed as the senior women's team's first manager, leaving his role at

Ballinamallard United Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Ferman ...

to take up the post.

Emma Hansberry Emma Hansberry (born 26 May 1994) is an Irish footballer and coach who plays for Women's National League (WNL) club Sligo Rovers. She previously represented Castlebar Celtic and Wexford Youths. An attacking midfielder, she has also represent ...

became the club's first signed player on 11 January 2022. Amy Hyndman and Katie Melly followed on 20 January. The club played its first friendly match on 22 January 2022, beating Conn Rangers, a

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

team from neighbouring

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, 6–3 at the "Sean Fallon Centre" all weather pitch at The Showgrounds before a crowd of about 300 people. On the opening day of the 2022 Women's National League, 5 March 2022, Sligo Rovers lost their first competitive match 6–0 at Peamount United. The FAI later awarded Sligo Rovers a 3–0

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

win, when Peamount reported themselves for fielding an ineligible player in the match. Seven days later the first home match at The Showgrounds was lost 3–0 to

DLR Waves Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Waves, also referred to as DLR Waves, is a women-only Irish association football club based in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It was originally founded in 2012. DLR Waves field several teams; the senior League of Ireland t ...

before an encouraging crowd of 945. On 19 March 2022 the club secured its first ever competitive win, 2–1 over

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

at Turners Cross. Gemma McGuinness scored the club's first official goal in the match. The club got to two consecutive

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

semi-finals under Steve Feeney in 2023 and Tommy Hewitt in 2024 they lost both games to Athlone Town with both games taking place at The Showgrounds. Hewitt's time at the club was short and unsuccessful after joining the club after Feeney stepped down only getting a total of 5 points out of the nine they got that season he stepped down before the two last games with Sligo getting their only win after he stepped down. Steve Feeney came back to the club for the 2025 after previously managing them for the 2022 and 2023 season

Players

Current squad

League and cup record

References

External links

* {{Sligo

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

Association football clubs established in 2022 Sport in Sligo (town) Association football clubs in Connacht 2022 establishments in Ireland Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Women's National League (Ireland) teams