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Cliftonville Ladies Football Club is a women's association football club from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club is the women's team of Cliftonville, and plays in the Women's Premiership, the top tier women's football league of Irish League.
| Full name | Cliftonville Ladies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground | Solitude, Belfast | ||
| Capacity | 8,000 (3,000 seated) | ||
| Manager | Martin Douglas | ||
| Coach | John McGrady | ||
| League | Women's Premiership | ||
| 2024 | Champions | ||
| Website | https://cliftonvillefc.net/ladies-squad/ | ||
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Cliftonville have won their first Irish League Women's Premiership title in 2022,[1][2] and made their debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League in the 2023–24 season.[3]
Background
On 18 June 1895 Cliftonville's home ground, Solitude, hosted a match between two sides formed by British Ladies' Football Club players, a game that has since been recognized as the first women's association football match to take place in Ireland; four days later, on June 22, the British Ladies' played their second match in Belfast, taking on a local male selection.[4][5] Both games were considered a success,[4][5] and were credited to have helped future developments of women's football both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.[4]
2003–2022: From Cliftonville Girls to Cliftonville Ladies
Cliftonville Ladies initially played as Cliftonville Girls in the regional Greater Belfast League,[6] before joining the Women's Premier League, the top tier of Northern Irish women's football, in 2004.[7] Following their rebranding as Cliftonville Ladies,[8] the club became founding members of the Women's Premiership in 2016, as a result of the Northern Ireland Football League's decision to take over the running of the WPL.[9][10]
In August 2019, Cliftonville player Billie Simpson was nominated for the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award for a goal she scored in a league match against Sion Swifts:[11][12] in the process, she became the second Northern Irish player to ever receive a nomination for the prize, following Matty Burrows in 2011, and the third all-Ireland player to do so, if Stephanie Roche is included in the count.[13]
In June 2022, six Cliftonville players, including national team captain Marissa Callaghan, were called up to the 23-women Northern Irish senior squad that took part in the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.[14][15]
2022–: First national title and professional status
On 26 October that year, the club won their first ever national title,[1][2] having won 15 of their 16 league matches throughout the season,[1] under head coach John McGrady.[2][16] As a result, they qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in their history.[3]
On 1 March 2023 Cliftonville became the first women's football team in the Irish League to announce professional contracts for their players since their introduction in December 2022,[17] having officially tied down twelve footballers.[17][18][19] However, they did not become the first club to register a professional player in Northern Ireland women's football, with Sion Swifts Ladies' Siobhan Higgins being the first player on a full-time contract to be registered on the Irish FA’s Comet system, instead.[20][21]
In June 2023, Cliftonville were one of the five football teams from the Irish League that took part in the inaugural edition of the All-Island Cup,[22][23] where they reached the final,[24][25] before finishing as runners-up following a defeat to Galway United.[26][27] During the same campaign, the club won their first Women’s County Antrim Cup in eight years,[28] while also lifting the Women’s Premiership League Cup.[29][30]
In September 2023, Cliftonville made their debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League against Benfica in the first qualifying round.[3][31] On 6 September they suffered an 8–1 away defeat to the Portuguese side: however, Caitlin McGuinness scored the club's first goal ever in a European competition in the process.[32][33]
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Current squad
- As of 28 April 2023[34]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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UEFA Women's Champions League
- 2023–24: TBD
Senior
- Winners (2): 2015[36] 2024
- Women's County Antrim Cup
- Winners (2): 2015, 2023[28]
The youth sector of Cliftonville Ladies includes several ranks, with teams competing at under-9, under-11, under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 level.[37] The club's under-19 team, Cliftonville Corinthians,[37][38] plays in the Electric Ireland Women's Academy League, formed and hosted by the Northern Ireland Football League, since its foundation in 2019.[39][40]
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