The 2011–12 Women's National League season was the inaugural season of the Women's National League. The season was sponsored by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

. Originally seven clubs were invited to join the league. However shortly before the start of the season

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

/St. Joseph's pulled out due to a lack of competitive players. This left six teams – Peamount United, Castlebar Celtic, Cork Women's F.C., Raheny United,

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

and Wexford Youths – to play the inaugural season. The season began on 13 November 2011 with Wexford Youths and Castlebar Celtic drawing 2–2, Raheny United defeating Shamrock Rovers 5–0 and Stephanie Roche scoring a hat-trick as Peamount United defeated Cork Women's F.C. 6–1. On 12 February 2012 Roche scored six goals as Peamount United defeated Castlebar Celtic 13–0 at home. The return fixture on 15 April saw Peamount United win 9–0 with Roche scoring another hat-trick. The final round of games was played on 22 April 2012. Peamount United were the inaugural champions, finishing three points clear of second placed Raheny United. They also completed a league double by winning the WNL Cup, defeating Shamrock Rovers 1–0 in the final on 6 May 2012. Roche was the league's top goalscorer with 24 goals in the league itself plus two in the WNL Cup. She scored the winner in the WNL Cup final. Roche formed a "devastating" strike partnership with Sara Lawlor who contributed 15 goals to Peamount United's league success. Lawlor was named Player of the Season at the inaugural end of season awards ceremony, while

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 ...

of Castlebar Celtic won the Young Player of the Season.

Final table

Top goalscorers

Team of the Season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Women's National League (Ireland) Women's National League (Ireland) seasons

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 ...