Women's Under 17 National League (Ireland)

The Women's Under-17 National League is the under-17 division of the Women's National League and the first under-age national league in women's football.

Women's Under 17 National League

Organising body	Women's Football Association of Ireland Football Association of Ireland
Founded	2018
Country	Ireland
Confederation	UEFA
Number of clubs	15
Level on pyramid	1
Current champions	[Cork City WFC]
Most championships	Shelbourne (1) Galway (1) Cork City WFC (1)
Website	wnl.fai.ie

The league was launched in 2018 with 11 clubs. Republic of Ireland internationals Heather Payne and Isibeal Atkinson, Tom Dennigan, Continental Tyres General Sales Manager and FAI Director of Competitions Fran Gavin helped launch the league in July 2018 at the FAI National Training Centre.^[1]

Format

The inaugural season consisted of 11 teams and began mid-late July 2018 with a truncated season with two groups. Competing in Group One were: Athlone Town, Donegal League, Peamount United, Shelbourne, Sligo Rovers and Galway Women's and competing in Group Two were: Cork City, Greystones, Limerick, UCD Waves, and Wexford Youths.^[2] Following the conclusion of the 10 rounds of fixtures, the top two teams from each group played in play-off mode the semi-finals and final to decide the winner.^{[3] [4]}

In December 2018, the Women's National League Committee has accepted an expression of interest to compete in the 2019 Under-17 Women's National League season from Bohemian FC. With the addition of Bohemians, the League now consists of 12 teams, with six teams competing in two groups before the final stage of the competition.^[5][6] The 2019 season began on the weekend ending Sunday 7 April and there has also been a WU17 League Cup introduced along with a Shield competition in the finals stage of the competition.

The 2020 season saw the introduction of Bray Wanderers, Carlow-Kilkenny, and Shamrock Rovers to the Women's U17 League which now consists of 15 teams. The format of 2 groups before the final stage of the competition was initially maintained.^[7] The start of the season fell victim to the lockdown measurements introduced by the government to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. A new format and start date were published on 23 July 2020 after the phased reopening of the country. The league would now be split into 3 groups of 5 teams each and the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will qualify for the quarter-finals with the competition then changing to a knock-out format.^[8]

Teams

Athlone Town

Bray Wanderers

Carlow-Kilkenny

Cork City

Donegal League

Galway

Greystones United

Dublin

Treaty United

Sligo Rovers

Wexford

Locations of Women's U17 National League Teams

Bohemians

Peamount United

Shamrock Rovers

Shelbourne

DLR Waves

Locations of Women's U17 National League Teams in Dublin

Team	Home town/suburb	Stadium
Athlone Town U17	Athlone	Athlone Town Stadium
Bray Wanderers U17	Bray	Carlisle Grounds
Bohemians U17	Phibsborough	Oscar Traynor Centre
Carlow-Kilkenny U17	Kilkenny	Derdimus Park
Cork City U17	Cork	Bishopstown Stadium
Donegal League U17	Donegal	Diamond Park, Ballyare
Galway U17	Galway	Dangan Sports Facilities
Greystones United U17	Greystones	The Woodlands
Treaty United U17	Limerick	Pike Rovers Sportsground
Peamount United U17	Newcastle, South Dublin	Greenogue
Shamrock Rovers U17	Tallaght	Roadstone Sports Ground
Shelbourne U17	Santry	AUL Complex
Sligo Rovers U17	Sligo	Sligo IT
DLR Waves U17	Dún Laoghaire	Marley Park
Wexford Youths U17	Crossabeg	Ferrycarrig Park

Timeline

League member Former member Future member

Under 17 National League Champions

Year	Winner	Runner Up	Result	Venue	Notes
2018	Shelbourne	Galway	2–0	Drom Soccer Park	[9]
2019	Galway	Wexford	3–1	Eamonn Deacy Park	[10]
2020	Cork City	Shamrock Rovers	2–0	Athlone Town Stadium	[11]
2021	Treaty United	Peamount United	3–2	Athlone Town Stadium	[12]

Under 17 National League Cup Champions

Year	Winner	Runner Up	Result	Venue	Notes
2019	Galway	Peamount United	2-1	Eamonn Deacy Park	[13]

Under 17 Player of the Year

Year	Player	Team	Notes
2018	Emily Whelan	Shelbourne	[14]
2019	Kayla Brady	Galway	[15]