Athlone Town Association Football Club Ladies ( ga, Cumann Peile Bhaile Áth Luain na mBan) is an
Irish association football club based in
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
. In February 2020 the
Football Association of Ireland (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 pl ...
. 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 which delayed the start of the season. The first game ended in an encouraging 1–0 defeat by
Wexford Youths
Wexford Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. They compete in the League of Ireland First Division. The club joined the league after being awarded a First Division licence for the 2007 League ...
. On 5 September 2020 the club secured their first goals and first win, beating fellow newcomers
Treaty United 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 final in 2000, but were beaten 7–0 by
Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...
, the dominant team of the era. Five members of Athlone Town's inaugural squad were former Bealnamulla players.
Players
Current squad
References
External links
*{{Twitter, AfcAthlone
Ladies
Association football clubs established in 2020
Sport in Athlone
Association football clubs in Leinster
2020 establishments in Ireland
Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland
Women's National League (Ireland) teams