Athlone Town AFC are to join the Só Hotels FAI Women’s National League ahead of the new season which will kick off in March 2020.
The club have competed in the Women’s U-17 National League since 2018 and have seen one of their number, Kayleigh Shine, earn a place in the Republic of Ireland U-19 squad for UEFA Championship qualifiers this year.
Meanwhile, Bray Wanderers will enter a team into the U-17 League for next season – bringing the total number of sides up to 13.
The announcement of the new addition to the National League came after Saturday’s awards ceremony at the Castle Oaks Hotels in Limerick, where Riana Jarrett won the Player of the Year honour on top of being the highest scorer in the competition.
What a year for @RiannaJarrett 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
So Hotels WNL Player of the Year🥇
So Hotels WNL Top Scorer ⚽️
So Hotels WNL Team of the Season 👊
So Hotels FAI Women’s Cup Winner 🏆
First senior goal for #IRLWNT 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/6wYNhYC2xd— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) November 16, 2019
Player of the Year: Rianna Jarrett (Wexford Youths)
Young Player of the Year: Emily Whelan (Shelbourne)
Under-17 League Player of the Year: Kayla Brady (Galway WFC)
National League Team of the Season: Goalkeeper – Naoisha McAloon (Peamount Utd), Defenders – Sadhbh Doyle (Galway), Claire Walsh (Peamount Utd), Jamie Finn (Shelbourne), Lauren Dwyer (Wexford). Midfielders – Eleanor Ryan Doyle (Peamount Utd), Megan Smyth-Lynch (Peamount Utd), Alex Kavanagh (Shelbourne), Kylie Murphy (Wexford). Forwards – Emily Whelan (Shelbourne), Rianna Jarrett (Wexford)
#WEURO2021 Qualifiers: Record crowd for Republic of Ireland Women
