A New Women’s National League Is to Be Welcomed

            I have to hold my hand up here and admit that on my mna-na-deise blog I don’t give enough coverage to sports other than to Ladies Football and Camogie that Waterford women are involved in.

Maybe this is because that when it comes to women in sport the two sports mentioned above are the ones that I have the most interest in.

In fact maybe when it comes to that blog I rely on others too much to help me fill it, mostly getting regular bits from the De La Salle and Lismore Camogie Clubs as well as the Waterford Camogie and Ladies Football County Board’s informing people what is happening under their care.

I know I have thrown it out many times in the past and am about to now again, if there is any individual or groups who are involved with sport for women who want to get coverage free of charge for their sport please feel free to contact me and I will be more than happy to upload whatever you give me on my blog and to put a posting on my Facebook and Twitter pages which you can share of often as you like to get the message you want to portray to as wide an audience as what we can achieve. Any notes you have can be sent to me via email to thomaskeane1973@gmail.com and as i said I will gladly upload them as well as any photo that you want to have with it free of charge.

Last Wednesday night I was in attendance at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the first time. The occasion was an International Club Cup game between two of the Premier League sides Arsenal and Chelsea.

As you do going into the game I bought my souvenir programme as i made my way up to the stadium. Getting inside the stadium just after 6-30pm for a 8-05pm kickoff and having located our seats I sat waiting for the teams to come out and begin their warm up, I began to read snippets from the programme.

When I came to page 44 a short three paragraph piece took my eye, entitled ‘Opportunity Knocks for New WNL Teams’.

  The piece informed the readers of the programme that the FAI had invited expressions of interest from clubs who may be interested in participating in the new Women’s National League.

The piece told us that there was over 22,900 registered players in Ireland and a new 11 team women’s under 17 league was introduced this year and that it was now important to look to the next step of progression at the top level of the women’s game in Ireland.

The piece told us that this new league would start in 2019 and any club interested in joining the league would be required to enter into a participation agreement with the FAI and meet some strict requirements.

These requirements include the full use of appropriate stadia, have specific coaching qualifications for the clubs coaches, have proper medical cover, a youth development structure and have financial sustainability.

The piece concluded with telling the reader that those interested should contact the Women’s National League Director of Competitions in the FAI at the National Sports Campus in Dublin 15 no later than Friday August 17.

I have to admit that I am not aware if there is any women’s soccer clubs in the Waterford area and more importantly who might be interested in joining this new league.

I do know however down the years when it comes to soccer some very good players have come from Waterford some of whom made a name for themselves in the game.

The former Benfica (Waterford) and Arsenal player Ciara Grant who played over 100 times for the Republic of Ireland’s senior team and who won so many honours with Arsenal over a long period of time is possibly the best known player from these regions, but there is many more who while they have not played at the very top like Ciara Grant they have still more than held their own playing here in Ireland. For example all with an interest in the game know that just a few short years back there was a number of players with Waterford connections playing at a top level with Wexford Youth’s.

In England all of the top sides have a women’s section attached to the club, and some of these sides are playing in the top two tiers of the league.

Can the same happen here in Ireland? Could we see women’s team represent the likes of Derry City, Cork City, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, Limerick FC and of course Waterford FC in the a new look women’s national league.

It would be great to think it could happen, but thinking and making it happen might be another thing. One thing is for sure if the League of Ireland Clubs and those who have aspirations of getting into the League of Ireland are in the twenty-first century and they appreciate, and by that I mean really appreciate the role of women in sport, not seeing them as clubs and sporting bodies would have in the past, (they were handy to bring the children to and from training and matches, and also washing the jersey’s) each and every one of them would do all in their power to have a women’s side attached to the club and have then playing at venues like the Brandywell, Tallagh Stadium, Turners Cross, the WRC etc week in week out.

It would also be great to think that if such a league was to gain enough support to set up a National League that all of the National Papers would get behind it and give the games the coverage that they would deserve, and it would be equally good to see some of the TV Stations, at least one anyway get behind the game and to show one live game each week and maybe have a review/preview programme on another night of the week.

Some might say that showing live games would take from the attendance at the game as people might rather stay at home and watch the game there than to go in person, but there is ways and means around this, having all games kick off at the same time on the same day would be one and for the TV station that might be covering the game not revealing the game they intend covering until maybe late in the day of the game.