Benfica Women's Soccer Club, previously known as Benfica L.F.C. and Mitsubishi Benfica, is an Irish association football club based in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. Founded in 1965, Benfica are one of the oldest women's football clubs in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s they were also one of Ireland's leading women's clubs. They were founder members of the Ladies League of Ireland, played in the

Dublin Women's Soccer League The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams ...

and were

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of 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 ...

finalists on at least five occasions.

History

Early years

Benfica was formed in 1965 by Joey O'Callaghan and Sean Cuddihy. They were originally formed to enter a mixed factory

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

competition and were named after

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, the club of

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

, the 1965 European Footballer of the Year, who was the founding members favourite player.

Leagues

During their history Benfica have fielded teams in various women's county, provincial and national leagues. They began playing in the Waterford Ladies League. In 1973 Benfica became founding members of the Ladies League of Ireland In 1987 when the national league was revived Benfica were again members. Other members included Cork Rangers,

Cork Celtic Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1979 and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champion ...

, Greenpark (Limerick) and Dublin Castle. While playing in the Ladies League of Ireland during the 1980s, Benfica were sponsored by Mitsubishi. However the revived Ladies League of Ireland lasted just three seasons and was abandoned in 1989. Benfica subsequently joined the Cork Ladies League. During the early 1990s they played in the Munster Ladies League. During the early 2000s they fielded teams in both the

and the Wexford and District League. They currently field teams in the Waterford District Girls League.

FAI Women's Cup

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Benfica played in at least five

finals, winning the competition three times. After losing the 1986 final to Dublin Castle, Benfica won the cup for the first time when they defeated Boyne Rovers 3–2 in the 1987 final at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. In the 1989 final they defeated Rathfarnham United 4–2 after extra time at The Farm. The Benfica team included

internationals Eithne Hennessy, Siobhan Furlong, Yvonne Lyons and Therese Leahy. In the 1992 final they lost after a penalty shootout to Welsox at

. Benfica won the cup for the third time in 1993 in controversial circumstances.

College Corinthians College Corinthians A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Douglas, County Cork. Their senior men's team play in the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division. They also regularly compete in the FAI Cup, the FAI Intermediate ...

originally defeated Benfica 1–0 in the final. However a replay was held after it was discovered that Corinthians had fielded two unregistered players. In the replay, a fifteen year old Ciara Grant scored twice as Benfica won 3–0 at

Kilcohan Park Kilcohan Park Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track and former soccer stadium located in the south of Waterford, Ireland. Operations Racing takes place every Friday and Saturday evening. Race distances are 325, 525, 550, 575 and 731 ya ...

Grounds

Benfica have played their home games at various grounds throughout

. During the 1970s they played at Johnville Ground, St. John's Park. During the 1980s they played at Ozier Park, Poleberry. They have also played at

and the

Waterford Regional Sports Centre The Waterford Regional Sports Centre (or simply, the RSC) is part of Waterford Corporation's Municipal sporting facilities and home to Waterford F.C. of the League of Ireland. Waterford moved to the newly opened RSC from their former home, K ...

Notable former players

Republic of Ireland women's internationals

Honours

**''Winners'': 1987, 1989, 1993: 3 **''Runners-up'': 1986, 1992: 2

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Benfica W.S.C. @ Twitter
Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Association football clubs in County Waterford Association football clubs established in 1965 Organisations based in Waterford (city) Association football in Waterford (city) 1965 establishments in Ireland Dublin Women's Soccer League teams Works association football teams in Ireland