Shamrock Rovers F.C. is delighted to announce its plans for the entry of a Senior Women’s National League team for the 2023 season and our Women’s First Team Head Coach, Collie O’Neill, subject to a successful licence application to the FAI.

The appointment of Collie O’Neill is a major statement by the club and is indicative of our ambitious plans for the progressive development of girls and women’s football at Shamrock Rovers F.C.

O’Neill, a Pro Licence coach, has vast experience in the League of Ireland most notably with UCD where he oversaw the club to win a First Division Men’s title in 2018. He has also had coaching spells at Shelbourne, Dundalk, and Dublin City.

Head of Women’s football at Rovers, Jason Carey is excited to work with O’Neill in the coming months as they put together a squad for the 2023 season.

Carey said “My job is to put the best structures and people in place so that the Shamrock Rovers Women’s teams can be successful, we want to make a big impact on the game in Ireland and having somebody of Collie’s calibre certainly gives us a great chance to do so. I would like to thank Academy Director Shane Robinson, U19 Men’s Coach Aidan Price and the Board of SRFC for their support in getting to this point.”

“Collie is someone who commands great respect within the game. He has everything we want our first team manager to be. He has a fantastic pedigree in terms of winning trophies developing young players and playing a very attractive style of football. We feel that this appointment sets out where the club wants to be in relation to the development of the women’s game in Ireland.”

“We are very ambitious about what we want to do here. The facilities and support structures at the club are amongst the best in the country, we have seen what the club has accomplished on the boys/men’s side, and we want to replicate that success in women’s football.”

New Head Coach, Collie O’Neill said: “It’s a great privilege to be at the biggest club in Ireland. I’m looking forward to the challenge of delivering on the expectation that comes with managing at such a big club. It’s an exciting challenge to put a new team together, but it’s made easier by some of the work that has gone into Rovers’ women’s section over the last few years, these players are our future. I’ll be looking to bring an attractive style of play along with an intensity to help us dominate games with and without the ball.”

Rovers currently have 2 teams in the WNL at U17s and U19s with a lot of promising young players in their ranks. The club has also just started a new girls development academy.

Pictured are Collie O’Neill (Head Coach SRFC Women’s First Team) and Jason Carey (Head of Women’s Football, SRFC). Photo credit: SRFC Media.