# 2022 Women's National League (Ireland)

The 2022 Women's National League known as the SSE Airtricity WNL for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland since its establishment in 2011. Expansion team Sligo Rovers competed for the first time, bringing the league up to ten clubs. Shelbourne, as defending champions from the previous season, won the 2022 league by defeating Wexford Youths on the final day of the season.
In July 2022 Shelbourne announced the signing of highly-decorated United States international player Heather O'Reilly, who emerged from retirement after two years. The transfer brought substantial publicity and increased the profile of the league.

## Teams

| Team | Home town/suburb | Stadium | 2021 finish |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium | 7th |
| Bohemians | Dublin (Phibsborough) | Dalymount Park | 6th |
| Cork City | Cork | Turners Cross | 8th |
| DLR Waves | Dún Laoghaire | UCD Bowl | 4th |
| Galway | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5th |
| Peamount United | Newcastle, South Dublin | Greenogue | 2nd |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 1st |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | NA |
| Treaty United | Limerick | Markets Field | 9th |
| Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park | 3rd |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Athlone Town | Tommy Hewitt | Laurie Ryan | Umbro | Palfinger |
| Bohemians | Sean Byrne | Sinéad Taylor | O'Neills | Premier Property Group |
| Cork City | Paul Farrell | Becky Cassin | Adidas | Jackie Lennox Chip Shop |
| DLR Waves | Graham Kelly | Jessica Gleeson | Jako | CDS - Clare Distribution Services |
| Galway | Alan Murphy | Savannah McCarthy | Acerbis | Só Hotels |
| Peamount United | James O'Callaghan | Áine O'Gorman | O'Neills | SPAR Kelly's Newcastle |
| Shelbourne | Noel King | Pearl Slattery | Umbro | Technological University Dublin |
| Sligo Rovers | Steve Feeney | Emma Hansberry | Joma | Avant Money |
| Treaty United | Don O'Riordan | Michaela Mitchell | Umbro | None |
| Wexford Youths | Stephen Quinn | Kylie Murphy | Jako | Energia |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Galway | Stephen Lally | Redeployed | 12 December 2021 | Pre-season | Alan Murphy | 12 December 2021 |
| Sligo Rovers | | | | Pre-season | Steve Feeney | 15 December 2021 |
| Treaty United | | | | Pre-season | Don O'Riordan | 29 December 2021 |
| Cork City | Paul Farrell | Resignation | 9 May 2022 | 9th | Jess Lawton (interim) | 10 May 2022 |
| Cork City | Jess Lawton (interim) | End of interim period | 31 May 2022 | 9th | Danny Murphy | 31 May 2022 |
| Treaty United | Don O'Riordan | Resignation | 7 November 2022 | 10th | | |

## Format

The ten teams played each other three times, with a mid-season break from 12 June to 1 July 2022.

## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shelbourne | 27 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 66 | 13 | +53 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Women's Champions League |
| 2 | Athlone Town | 27 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 58 | |
| 3 | Peamount United | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 80 | 26 | +54 | 56 | |
| 4 | Wexford Youths | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 61 | 33 | +28 | 56 | |
| 5 | DLR Waves | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 51 | 30 | +21 | 40 | |
| 6 | Galway | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 39 | |
| 7 | Bohemians | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 36 | |
| 8 | Sligo Rovers | 27 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 32 | 66 | −34 | 20 | |
| 9 | Cork City | 27 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 25 | 82 | −57 | 18 | |
| 10 | Treaty United | 27 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 5 | 110 | −105 | 2 | |

### Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Athlone Town | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Bohemians | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Cork City | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| DLR Waves | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Galway | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Peamount United | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Shelbourne | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Treaty United | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Wexford Youths | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |

## Results
### Matches 1–24

Teams play each other twice.
| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | COR | DLR | GAL | PEA | SHE | SLI | TRE | WEX |
| Athlone Town | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 |
| Bohemians | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 |
| Cork City | 1–4 | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–7 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| DLR Waves | 0–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 0–0 |
| Galway | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–4 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Peamount United | 0–1 | 1–1 | 8–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | — | 0–4 | 0–3 | 5–1 | 4–0 |
| Shelbourne | 1–1 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 3–2 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Treaty United | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–7 | 0–10 | 0–0 | — | 0–3 |
| Wexford | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | — |

### Matches 19–27

Teams play each other once.
| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | COR | DLR | GAL | PEA | SHE | SLI | TRE | WEX |
| Athlone Town | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–2 | — | 2–1 |
| Bohemians | 1–2 | — | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 2–5 |
| Cork City | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | — | 1–0 | 0–5 | — | 3–2 | — | — |
| DLR Waves | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | — | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 7–0 | — |
| Galway | — | — | — | 2–3 | — | 0–6 | 1–2 | — | — | 0–1 |
| Peamount United | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 6–0 | 3–3 |
| Shelbourne | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | — |
| Sligo Rovers | — | 0–2 | — | 1–5 | 2–5 | — | — | — | 1–1 | — |
| Treaty United | 0–7 | 0–4 | 0–3 | — | 0–6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wexford | — | — | 5–1 | 4–1 | — | — | 0–4 | 5–2 | 3–0 | — |

## Statistics
### Top scorers

As of 30 October 2022.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Áine O'Gorman | Peamount United | 22 |
| 2 | Emily Corbet | Athlone Town | 20 |
| 3 | Stephanie Roche | Peamount United | 16 |
| 4 | Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths | 16 |
| 5 | Kylie Murphy | Wexford Youths | 15 |
Source: Women's National League

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | References |
| Month | Player | Club | References |
| March | Stephanie Roche | Peamount United | |
| April | Laurie Ryan | Athlone Town | |
| May | Jessica Ziu | Shelbourne | |
| June/July | Emma Doherty | Sligo Rovers | |
| August/September | Ciara Rossiter | Wexford Youths | |
| October | Alex Kavanagh | Shelbourne | |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| WNL Player of the Year | Emily Corbet | Athlone Town |
| Young Player of the Year | Jessie Stapleton | Shelbourne |
| Manager of the Year | Tommy Hewitt | Athlone Town |
| Bank of Ireland Golden Gloves | Amanda Budden | Shelbourne |
| Buy4Pets Online Goal of the Year | Aoife Brennan | Sligo Rovers |
| Services to the Women's National League | Stephen Moran and Mick O'Shea | |
WNL Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) | Rachael Kelly (Bohemians) |
| Defenders | Jessica Gargan (Shelbourne) | Jessica Gargan (Shelbourne) | Jessica Gargan (Shelbourne) | Jessica Gargan (Shelbourne) | Jessica Hennessy (Athlone Town) | Jessica Hennessy (Athlone Town) | Jessica Hennessy (Athlone Town) | Jessica Hennessy (Athlone Town) | Shauna Fox (Shelbourne) | Shauna Fox (Shelbourne) | Shauna Fox (Shelbourne) | Shauna Fox (Shelbourne) |
| Midfielders | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | Muireann Devaney (Athlone Town) | Jessie Stapleton (Shelbourne) | Ciara Rossiter (Wexford Youths) |
| Forwards | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emma Doherty (Sligo Rovers) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) |

## Broadcasting

In February 2021 the Football Association of Ireland announced that all WNL matches would be streamed free of charge on the new LOITV platform. In February 2022 the TG4 Irish language television network confirmed an intention to broadcast nine WNL matches in 2022. Ultimately 10 games were broadcast live, which attracted over 500,000 viewers.