Last week, we reviewed the top six playoff sides—Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United and suspended Western United (see last week’s column at: The Week in Women's Football: Speaking with Samya Hassani; A-League preview - TribalFootball.com). We present Australia’s U-17 WNT that qualified for the 2026 U-17 Women’s Asian Cup next year in China as the field is set, as the team had a substantial reliance on young A-League talent. We also present the roster for Australia’s two internationals in October in the U.K., where they split games against Wales (2-1 victory) and England (3-0 defeat).
We finally look back at small provincial side Athlone United of the Republic of Ireland, who did so well in their first season in Europe in 2025-26, playing in both the Women’s Champions League and new Europa Cup—they have recently won the league and cup double and will return to the WCL for 2026-27.
2025/26 A-League Women Preview—Part 2
We again have some references to our early September look at the 2025/26 Ninja A-League season, when we examined some news over the summer for each side (see: The Week in Women's Football: Ava Piazza exclusive; A-League teams & Matildas focus - TribalFootball.com).
Brisbane Roar (8-2-13, 26 points, Seventh)
The Roar missed the playoffs in 2024/25 for the fourth consecutive season after a late season swoon of five consecutive defeats from Round 17-21 doomed their playoff hopes; their finish was a shock as they were in second place after 10 games, one point behind eventual Premiership winners Melbourne City.
Veteran Matilda midfielder Tameka Yallop (34), with 14 goals in 134 full internationals, returns to the Roar for her third season in her third stint, after scoring 12 goals in 18 games last season in Brisbane. Forward Grace Kuilamu (18) is a top young talent to watch in the league and she finished with five goals in 18 games. She won her first cap this past summer in Bunbury against Panama as an 87th minute substitute in Australia’s shocking 1-0 loss (see: The Week in Women's Football: Ava Piazza exclusive; A-League teams & Matildas focus - TribalFootball.com) and is the first Australian international (men’s or women’s) of Pacific Island heritage (her father is from Fiji) to play at the senior level. She has been compared to full international Mary Fowler (now at Manchester City) at the same age and Kuilamu wants to eventually follow Fowler’s path and play in England’s WSL.
Dutch international forward Bente Jansen (26) left Ajax of Amersterdam for the Roar. She played two seasons with Ajax, with 24 appearances in the Women’s Eredivisie, winning the KNVB Women’s Dutch Cup and making the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Before Ajax, she spent 12 years at FC Twente, debuting in 2016 and made over 100 appearances. She won three league titles and one Women’s Cup and one Women’s Super Cup in the Netherlands.
A new international signing for the Roar this season is American youth international striker Ashlyn Miller (22) from the University of Texas. In four seasons, she scored 10 goals and added 18 assists at UT. Before signing with Brisbane, Miller signed a short-term contract with the San Diego Wave, where she played in two friendly matches. Miller could be a hugely impactful signing for the Roar, and the NWSL might have let a very talented forward slip through their fingers.
Another American signing is defender Josie Studer (24). She played five seasons at Louisiana Tech University, before joining the Carolina Ascent in the USL Super League, which won the Player’s Shield as the league’s first ever regular season title winners in 2024-25, playing in 11 games with two assists.
A local signing is striker Kyla Hanson (19), who played in the Queensland NPLW state league with Eastern Suburbs, winning the league’s Golden Boot in 2025 with 26 goals, adding nine assists, as her club lost to Brisbane City 3-1 in the NPLW playoff semifinals this past summer.
Sharn Freier (24) has returned to the Ninja A-League and Brisbane on loan from German Frauen-Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg. She moved in January from the Roar to the German side for a club record transfer fee. She made only 11 league appearances for the Roar last season as she suffered a season-ending ankle injury. She was with the Matildas at the 2024 Olympic Games Finals in Paris.
See our September column (link above) for updates on new signing from Australia Ava Piazza and the departures of Singapore international Danelle Tan to the Japan WE-League, Deborah De la Harpe to Sweden’s Damallsvenskan and Lainie Freier’s (Sharn’s sister) surprising retirement from the game, after posting nine goals and four assists in 17 games in 2024/25.
Sydney FC (7-4-12, 25 points, Eighth)
Sydney FC wants to start a new playoff streak after last season’s horrendous start to 2024/25 left them with too much to make up to continue their 16 year playoff streak since the league’s first season in 2008/09. Four straight wins in Rounds 19-22 to close the 23 round season did move them to eighth in the table after spending seven weeks of the season on the bottom of the table in 12th and nine weeks in 11th place.
Riley Tanner was a Panamanian international at the 2023 WWC in Australia/New Zealand and played last season in Spokane (see: The Week in Women's Football: Preview of USL Super League (P2); new additions & controversy - TribalFootball.com and The Week in Women's Football: Spokane Zephyr in focus; how the USL Super League franchise exceeding expectations - TribalFootball.com). She had a fantastic game against Australia when Panama defeated the Matildas earlier this year in Bunbury—see our September column (link above).
Another American who played last season in Spokane is coming to Sydney for the 2025/26 season—forward Jodi Ulkekul (28)—after a season in the first year USL Super League with the Zephyr; she previously played in Spain (Castellon), Italy (Roma) and in the NWSL with OL (now Seattle) Reign. She is a native of Washington State and played collegiately at Gonzaga University in Spokane.
Sydney FC also signed American goalkeeper Heather Hinz (24) on a one-year contract from the Houston Dash of the NWSL, with the two parting ways mutually so she could continue her career abroad. She was drafted by the Dash in 2024. She had 10 shutouts in 20 starts for the South Carolina Gamecocks and was the SEC Goalkeeper of the Year in 2023.
In September, Sydney FC signed Canadian-born Haiti international forward Laurie-Ann Moïse (23). She played at Cal State Fullerton and South Alabama in the States and semi-pro ball in Quebec with FC Laval over the past six seasons. She has been capped four times for Haiti’s senior national team, including at the 2024 Pink Ladies Cup in Turkey, as Haiti finished even on points at the top of the table (six points) with Russia and Chinese Taipei, but Russia won the tournament with a better goal differential (+5 vs. +2 vs. +2). Moise said: “I am so excited to get started with my professional journey as it’s been a lifelong dream. I am super grateful that I get to play for a club with so much history and I’m hoping to make an immediate impact and really, to just win it all this season with this team.”
In July, Sydney FC landed one of the most exciting young strikers in the country in 17-year-old Skye Halmarick. She played for the NWS Spirit FC in the New South Wales state league (NPLW) this season, scoring 19 goals in 19 matches, including two hat-tricks and four braces. At the AFC U-20 World Cup Qualifiers this past August, she scored five goals for the Young Matildas squad in Dushanbe, Tajikistan that qualified for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup in Thailand in April of 2026. She scored a hat-trick in their opening 14-0 win over the host nation, then a brace in a 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei in their third match—following a 3-0 win over Palestine. Other current Sydney FC players on that team included: Maddie Caspers, Amelia Cassar, Sofia Fante, Amber Luchtmeijer, Rubi Sullivan and Caley Tallon-Henniker.
Sydney FC also signed Young Matildas midfielder Amelia (Milly) Cassar (17) on a three-year contract from cross-town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers. She played four times last season for WSW.
U-20 Australian international midfielder Amelia Cassar (right—in stripes) in action last season for Western Sydney Wanderers. She signed a three year contract with Sydney FC, starting with the 2025/26 season. Photo courtesy of the Ninja A-League.
Makenzie Hawkesby (25) led the team last season with six goals and returns for 2025/26 for her seventh season with the club. She is approaching 100 appearances for the Sky Blues, a mark which only Princess Ibini, Teresa Polias and Natalie Tobin have reached.
Iconic Sydney FC and Australian international forward Princess Ibini (25), who played with Sydney FC since debuting in the 2015/16 season as a 15-year-old and scored 26 goals in 137 matches while winning three league titles, signed with Besiktas of Turkey for the 2025-26 season. Also not returning this season are American Shea Connors (29) and 111-cap Australian international Kyah Simon (34), who both at press time have not signed with another club.
See our September column (link above) about Croatian international Bianca Galic moving to the Sky Blues from Central Coast as well as the signing of American-raised Philippines international Madison Ayson from Canberra.
Wellington Phoenix (7-3-13, 24 points, Ninth)
A major signing in June for Wellington and the Ninja A-League is Netherlands international midfielder/defender Tessel Middag (32). She has 44 senior caps and was on the 2015 WWC Finals side in Canada. She played the last four seasons at Rangers in Scotland, winning three titles. Middag also played at Ajax and with WSL sides Manchester City and West Ham and in Italy with Fiorentina.
New head coach Bev Priestman made New Zealand international midfielder CJ Bott (30) her first signing on August 1. Bott played the last four seasons with the WSL’s Leicester City. She also played for teams in Italy, Norway and Sweden. Bott said upon her signing: “To be able to come back to Wellington and play professionally for the Phoenix in my hometown is really special. I didn’t have that dream when I was a kid. We didn’t have a women’s team to aspire to. So, I feel very grateful to be given this opportunity now and I’m proud to be part of the club… I had a few options after leaving Leicester and I looked around a little bit, but after being home for the past two months I didn’t really want to leave.” For the Football Ferns, she played in one U-17 and one U-20 FIFA WWC Finals, three senior finals since 2015 in Canada and two Olympic Games Finals.
American central defender Ellie Walker (25) comes from Portuguese side SC Braga, who finished third last season to qualify for the 2025-26 UEFA Women’s Champions League She played three seasons in Portugal, two with SCU Torreense and last season at SC Braga. She explained her move: “I spent three years in Portugal, I knew the league really well, and felt that it was time to look at other leagues.”
See our September column (link above) for more on former Canadian international head coach Bev Priestman replacing Paul Temple and new signings, including Nepalese international forward Sabitra Bhandari (29) and Lucia León (28), a Dominican Republic international who played for Adelaide United last season and made 26 appearances after joining the Reds from Watford FC in England.
Defender Tiana Jaber signed a two-year contract extension in June; she has been with Lebanon’s women’s national team since last year, debuted this season and already has 10 caps (see: The Week in Women's Football: A-League review; exclusive with Tiana Jaber on Lebanon call - TribalFootball.com). The Australian native said upon signing her new deal: “I love the club, the country and the fans and I really want to win the league with the Phoenix."
New Zealand senior international Manaia Elliott (20) had four goals and returns for the third year of her contract. The winger joined the Phoenix academy from Melville United AFC in Hamilton at the start of 2022. Elliott captained the Young Football Ferns at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India, starting all three of their group matches.
Central defender Mackenzie Barry has signed a new one-year deal for 2025/26, her fifth season with the side. She is the Nix’s all-time leader in games played with 71. She said: “I love playing in New Zealand. I love being near my family and the fans are amazing, of course. The team’s grown and improved so much. The first two years at the Phoenix were very much a learning curve for me as they were my first couple of years in professional football (the first year was during COVID and Wellington had to play all of their home matches in Greater Sydney). The last two years, we just fell short of the finals unfortunately, but I really want us to get into the top six. I’m committed to getting us into the finals.” She has 16 caps for New Zealand.
All five of Wellington’s imports from last season were not brought back after their 2024/25 contracts expired. Portuguese youth international goalkeeper Carolina Vilão (23) has departed the club after making 23 appearances last season and signed with Hearts of Edinburgh in Scotland, while English striker Olivia Fergusson (30) is also heading back overseas, joining Espanol of Barcelona, Spain for 2025-26; she scored five goals (tops on the Nix) and registered two assists in her 22 games at the club. American Maya McCutcheon (24) has signed with the USL Super League’s Dallas Trinity and has scored once in seven games this fall. She played at the University of Oklahoma and West Virginia University.
Fellow American Alivia Kelly of the University of New Hampshire and North Carolina State as a graduate student has also left Wellington and has not signed with another club as of press time. Japanese winger Mebae Tanaka (29) moved to Glasgow City in Scotland, where she signed a two year deal and is the first Japanese player at the club. She played 19 games last season with Wellington and scored one goal. She has played professionally at home in Japan, in Korea Republic with Suwon FC for three seasons and in Australia with Preston Lions FC in Victoria’s National Premier League Women, before landing with Wellington last season.
Perth Glory (6-4-13, 22 points, Tenth)
Perth struggled and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season in 2024/25; they last made the postseason in 2018/19, when Sam Kerr (now at Chelsea) was with the side and they made the Grand Final. The Glory were hurt by the fact that Australian youth international forward Susan Phonsongkham played in only six games in 2024/25—though she scored twice—in her fourth season at Glory, after badly injuring her ankle with Preston Lions in the NPLW Victoria Grand Final in 2024.
Onyinyechi Zogg (28), who was born in Switzerland but plays for Nigeria, was a steady force in the back and played in 22 games; she returns to the Glory. She has played in France, Germany and Switzerland before coming to Australia for the 2024/25 season.
The Glory made a major offseason signing in Rola Badawiya (27), the American who has won a Premiership and Grand Final with Sydney FC in 2022/23. She then scored seven goals with Central Coast Mariners in 2023/24 as they made their playoffs in their return to the A-League. Last season she played in Portugal with SC Braga, scoring two goals in 16 regular season matches, explaining her decision to come back play in Australia: “After a year in Europe, I wanted to return to Australia because it truly feels like home and Perth felt like the right place for me to grow and belong.”
Glory Football Director Stan Lazaridis (53), the former Australian international who played for a decade in England with West Ham United and Birmingham City, feels that Badawiya has the potential to make a major impact in the league upon her return: “Rola is a serious attacking weapon with a proven record in this competition: She’s strong, mobile and quick and offers exactly the kind of firepower that we need in order to mount a serious challenge for the Finals.”
Perth Glory have signed 21-year-old Philippines international midfielder/central defender Emma Tovar from Valencia of Spain’s Liga F, where she’s spent the past three seasons.
\Tovar was recently capped by the Filipinas squad under head coach Mark Torcaso, the former Western United head coach. Torcaso connected Tovar to Glory head coach Stephen Peters. Tovar said: “Coming from Spain, I think the playing styles are very different and so I think not only am I going to learn a lot, I’m going to be able to take what I learned in Spain and bring it over to the A-League.” Glory football director Stan Lazaridis said that Tovar should do well in the league: “She’s very comfortable in possession and tenacious out of it, plus she brings that versatility in terms of being able to play in midfield or at the back. Playing regularly at such a high level in Spain has provided her with invaluable experience and really helped her hone her technical ability.”
Forward Bronte Trew (23) played at Macarthur Rams under current Glory head coach Stephen Peters when the Rams won a NPLW Championship/Premiership double in 2024; she will work with him again this season in Perth. Last season she played in the Ninja A-League for the first time with Western Sydney Wanderers, scoring four goals and claiming one assist in 19 games..
Experienced defender Julia Sardo (30) returns to Perth Glory after a five-year absence. She previously played at Melbourne City and most recently at Western United, where she spent three seasons, including when the club made the 2022/23 Grand Final. She debuted with Perth in the 2019/20 season, making six appearances. Sardo said about her return to the Western Australian team: “Coming back to Perth honestly feels like a full-circle moment since it’s where I made my debut. I just want to bring my experience over the years and give back to the club that gave me my start. Hopefully we can go all the way in the (Ninja A-League) this season!”
See our September column (link above) for more on Perth signing two local 20-year-olds in Georgia Cassidy and Grace Johnston—both hometown players.
New Zealand international forward Kelli Brown (24) led the team with five goals last season but has joined Newcastle Jets for the 2025/26 campaign (see below).
Newcastle Jets (5-5-13, 20 points, Eleventh)
The Jets hope to make the playoffs for the second time in three seasons but they lost their final four games with a goals difference of -7 (5 goals scored and 12 allowed).
See our September column (link above) on Cassidy Davis and Josie Allen returning, on their eight departures from last season and their new English-born head coach for 2025/26—Steven Hoyle.
Newcastle allowed more goals than any other team in the league in 2024/25 (53) so changes at goalkeeper were not unexpected. Canadian backstop Danielle Krzyzaniak (28), who joined the Jets from Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic, started 16 games last season and moved home to play with AFC Toronto in the new Northern Super League for this season, appearing in one game as a backup to Canadian-born Portugal international Sierra Deolinda Cota-Yarde (13 games) and Finnish youth international Sofia Manner (11 games) for the NSL’s regular season champions.
Australian native Tiahna Robertson (22) started nine games in goal last season. For 2025/26, the Jets have announced the signing of goalkeeper Georgia Ritchie (17), who came through the Canberra United academy and spent the last two seasons with the senior team, serving as a backup behind both Chloe Lincoln and Sally James. Previously, she captained the ACT at the 2024 U-16’s National Youth Championships. She is expected to support another new goalkeeping signing in New Zealand international Anna Leat (24). Leat played at Georgetown University in the States and in the WSL with West Ham United (one season) and Aston Villa (three seasons) since 2021-22. She has 10 senior caps with the Football Ferns.
The Jets signed former Wellington Phoenix defender Charlotte Lancaster (22) after two years off, rejoining new head coach Stephen Hoyle, who coached her at New Zealand club Eastern Suburbs AFC. Lancaster joins the Jets from NPLW NSW side APIA Leichhardt, where the club reached the 2025 NPL NSW Grand Final, falling 4-3 in extra-time to Bulls FC Academy. She made 13 appearances for the Phoenix in 2022/23. Lancaster is the fourth New Zealander on the roster, along with Anna Leat (see above), Kelli Brown (see above) and youth international Olivia Page (20).
Page also previously played for Stephen Hoyle in New Zealand and had been at Sheffield United in England’s Championship (now WSL2) for the past two seasons. Sheffield finished bottom of the second division last season but remained in the second tier as Blackburn Rovers was relegated instead for breach of league standards. Page has played in a WWC Finals at both the U-17 and U-20 levels for New Zealand.
Newcastle Jets announced that veteran forward Lauren Allan has re-signed for the Ninja A-League 2025-26 season, her seventh-consecutive term at the club. She has been with the Jets since the 2019/20 season and has scored 21 goals in 97 appearances.
Last season, Newcastle’s top scorers were Sheridan Gallagher (23) with six—in her first season with Newcastle—and tied with New Zealand international midfielder Deven Jackson (26), who moved to Melbourne City for 2025/26. Gallagher was a youth international for Australia and has been playing in the National Rugby League Women’s Premiership with the Newcastle Knights since 2023. Gallagher was not re-signed for this season by the Jets.
Western Sydney Wanderers (4-4-15, 16 points, Twelfth)
The Wanderers were overwhelmed most of last season and ended up at the bottom of the table with the wooden spoon. One point out of 18 in their last six games was a really difficult stretch and they will want to get off to a better start this season.
The Wanderers signed two new imports from China, Wang Ying and Yuan Cong, who both came from Guangdong. Attacker Yuan Cong was called into the Chinese Women’s National Team this year at the 2025 Pinatar Cup in Spain in February, finishing third with four points behind winners Canada (seven points), Mexico (six points) and ahead of Chinese Taipei (zero points). Defender Wang Ying has four senior appearances for China.
Wang Ying said: “I am very happy to join Western Sydney Wanderers. This is a completely new challenge for me, and I will give my all in the league and do my best to defensively protect our goal. In this new season, I will work hard together with my teammates to achieve excellent results.” Wanderers head coach Geoff Abrahams (see below) said the signings underline the Wanderers’ international ambitions.
Western Sydney Wanderers brought in former Sydney FC goalkeeper and New Zealand international Brianna Edwards (22) on a two-year deal. She played last season with Sydney FC and played earlier this year at NSW National Premier League side Illawarra Stingrays; she is expected to be the number one goalkeeper for the Wanderers in 2025/26.
New Zealand international goalkeeper Brianna Edwards has moved crosstown from Sydney FC to Wanderland to join Western Sydney for the 2025/26 season. Photo courtesy of the Ninja A league.
Western Sydney Wanderers also signed Filipino-American defender Janae DeFazio, who has played for clubs in the United States, Portugal and Philippines. She was born and raised in California, played at UCLA and then made her professional debut with the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2024, before moving to Portugal’s Racing Power in the Campeonato Nacional Feminino for a short time.
Most recently, she featured for Makati FC in the Philippines’ PFF Women’s League. Internationally, she has played for the Philippines since 2024. She earned her first cap in a 3–0 victory over Jordan during the 2024 Pink Ladies Cup tournament in Turkey (finishing tied for fourth with Kenya on four points and ahead of Jordan with zero points—see more above), assisting on a goal. Since then, she has earned eight caps and could feature in the side at the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Finals in Australia early next year.
Midfielder Talia Younis (16) is seen as a generational talent and her contract was extended by the Wanderers for the 2025/26 season. Last season she played in 22 games, starting 16 times. She is the youngest player to ever play in the league and started with the WSW Academy over five years ago. Wanderers head coach Geoff Abrahams felt that Younis’s signing was very important for the club’s future: “Talia represents exactly what we value at this club and brings a fearless drive to improve every time she steps on the pitch. From day one, she’s shown remarkable composure and maturity beyond her years, and we’re proud to continue supporting her development. Keeping Talia in Red and Black is important for our future and reflects the culture we’re building at the club.”
Western Sydney Wanderers FC promoted Geoff Abrahams to the role of permanent head coach through the 2025/26 season, having been an interim head coach since January.
See our September column (link above) about 10 departures ahead of this season, including Madison McComasky (25), who made 32 appearances with two goals over the past two seasons with WSW; she was allowed to leave and moved to the Super League with Ft. Lauderdale United for the 2025-26 season. She joins Sophie Harding, who moved to Ft. Lauderdale as well after the 2024/25 season with WSW (see our recent column: The Week in Women's Football: USL Super League preview and season tips - TribalFootball.com).
Australian youth international Sienna Saveska (18) moved to Melbourne Victory for the 2025/26 season after making 22 appearances and scoring seven goals with the Wanderers.
Auckland FC
See our column from September (link above) on their recently announced two year delay to their Ninja A-League debut.
Other Australia news
U-17 WNT Junior Matildas make AFC Finals with a strong reliance on A-League players.
The CommBank Junior Matildas advanced to the 2026 AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup after a 11-0 demolition of group host side Singapore in tournament qualifying on October 17. The Junior Matildas won the first qualification fixture on October 13, 22-0 against North Mariana Islands and ended with 33 goals scored versus 0 allowed.
They made the tenth edition of the tournament finals tournament, set to be staged in China next year, along with: China (hosts), DPR Korea (2024 champions), Japan (2024 runners-up), Korea Republic (2024 third place side), Philippines, Lebanon (debut), Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Chinese Taipei, who all also qualified in October group play by winning their groups. This upcoming tournament will also double as the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. There were 27 teams participating in the qualifiers in October in eight groups.
The Australia squad, featuring 13 rising stars of the Ninja A-League, dominated Singapore in their second qualification fixture with Theodora Mouithys Mickalad (Football West Hyundai NTC) scoring four goals in the first 20 minutes of the match.
Melbourne City midfielder Izabella Rako scored a second-half hat-trick while her City teammate Keira Sarris, Sydney FC’s Claire Corbett (Sydney FC) and Willa Pearson (Belrose Terrey Hills Raiders and Sydney FC) each scored one goal.
Australia’s head coach Mike Cooper said ahead of the games in Singapore that: “Our squad is (a) blend of players who already have experience winning at international level—having recently lifted the ASEAN U16 Girls’ Championship trophy—and new faces who have earned their spot through performance at national team camp and their club environments.”
Australia’s WNT split games in the U.K. versus Wales and England
During the October international window, Australia defeated Wales 2-1 at Cardiff City Stadium on October 25, and then fell to the two-time reigning European Champions England on October 28 at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium. Against Wales, Courtney Nevin scored her first-ever international goal in the first half before Caitlin Foord added the ultimate winner in the second half.
Sam Kerr’s received her first start in 725 days after being out for an ACL injury. Haley Raso captained the side as she achieved 100 caps. Wales tied the match in the 55th minute with Mared Griffiths’ (18) first international goal. Griffiths is on Manchester United’s senior side this season after coming up through their academy.
The Matildas lost to England 3-0 with goals by Aggie Beever-Jones (22) of Chelsea, Lucy Bronze (34) of Chelsea and Georgia Stanway (26) of Bayern Munich of Germany. Midfielder Alanna Kennedy’s early red card in the 19th minute, for preventing an early England goalscoring opportunity, severely handicapped the Matildas, who had to play over 70 minutes with only 10 women. Beever-Jones scored on a rebound of the resulting free-kick and England cruised the rest of the way home.
Athlone Town wins the League and Cup Double in Ireland
We have focused this fall on Athlone Town of the Republic of Ireland, who debuted in Europe this year and played in two WCL rounds and one in the new Europa League (see: The Week in Women's Football: Izzy Groves exclusive; Champions League qualifying review - TribalFootball.com). Athlone Town will be back in Europe for the 2026/27 season, again starting in the Women’s Champions League as they won their national league again in 2025; they also defeated Bohemians of Dublin (3-2) in the FAI Women’s Cup at Tallaght Stadium to take the double in 2025.
American forward Kelly Brady scored the winner in the Cup Final. She scored 26 goals in all competitions, with 19 in the league to win the Golden Boot. Brady signed with Athlone Town in January of 2025 after playing at the University of Mississippi. Her father is from Monaghan and her mother’s side traces to Galway; she has an Irish passport and was in camp ahead of the Nations League play-offs against Belgium in late October, but was selected not in the final 23 for the Belgium matches, with the Irish winning 5-4 on aggregate to win promotion to League A in the next round of the Nations League and for the upcoming 2027 WWC qualifiers, with a guarantee of making the UEFA Playoffs for 2027 at a minimum.
Brady hopes to be able to return to Town for next season, saying: “We’ll see where it takes me. I’m keeping my options open right now. I would love to come back with Athlone and retain all these players and try to do this all over again. Because it feels good, you know?”
In the league, Athlone Town won the title by seven points over Shelbourne (in a 22-game season), losing once and only conceding 10 goals all season. Athlone finished with a 17-4-1 (W-D-L) with 55 points, with Shelbourne of Dublin (16-0-6) second with 48 points, and provincial sides Galway United (14-3-5) with 45 points, Wexford with (13-2-7) for 41 points and Dublin’s Shamrock Rovers (11-4-7) on 37 points in third, fourth and fifth, respectively in the 12 team league
Wexford won the All-Island Cup involving clubs from Northern Ireland and the Republic on August 31, defeating Bohemians 5-4 on penalties at home at Ferrycarrig Park. Alannah McEvoy put Bohemians in front in the first half but Ireland WNT international Ellen Molloy scored to deadlock the scores. In penalty kicks, midfielder Becky Cassin scored the decider after goalkeeper Maria O'Sullivan had saved from Boh’s substitute Savannah Kane to give Wexford the win. Galway United had won the trophy in both 2023 and 2024. This was the third year of the competition involving 16 clubs.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey