ATHLONE TOWN ARE all set for another European adventure.
The League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division champions are in Poland, hoping for another magical run after their 2025 exploits.
ŽFK Skopje 2014 of North Macedonia are their opponents as the Uefa Women’s Champions League first qualifying round gets underway on Wednesday [KO 10am, available to stream on nowe.emocje.tv].
Win that, and Lily Agg’s side will progress to the final of the one-venue mini-tournament at Zagłębiowski Park Sosnowiec – over an hour’s drive from Kraków – on Saturday. Hosts KKS Czarni Sosnowiec or Georgia’s WFC Nike await there, with the prize a ticket to the second round next month.
The Midlanders reached that juncture last year, becoming the first Irish team since Raheny United in 2014/15 to come through the first qualifying round after comfortable wins over Cardiff City and ŽNK Agram in Athlone. Icelandic champions Breiðablik ended their Champions League journey thereafter, but they dropped to the Uefa Women’s Europa Cup after beating Crvena Zvezda. (They fell to Glasgow City there.)
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It is the same format this campaign: the runners-up and third-placed teams from the second qualifying round tournaments get another chance in the Europa Cup, alongside those eliminated in the third qualifying round. Lose before that in the Champions League, and the qualification dream dies.
Athlone will be confident in clearing the first hurdle anyway, after a 4-0 win over Cardiff last season. ŽFK Skopje 2014 are among the lower-ranked sides involved, yet to win on the European stage, with North Macedonia 46th in the Uefa coefficients compared to Ireland’s 35th. They are out of season, having last played in May when they won their league by 12 points, with their entire squad North Macedonian.
Town, meanwhile, have reaped the rewards of blending domestic talent with international stars. US-born Dana Scheriff, Madie Gibson and Hannah Waesch are among the best players in the Women’s Premier Division.
Agg was a somewhat left-field appointment in May, but the injured Republic of Ireland international has settled well. She is unbeaten in her five games in charge, winning all but one (a 1-1 draw with title rivals Shelbourne) as they sit top of the table.
The 32-year-old has bolstered her squad, with English duo Sofia Stovold and Phoebe Hampson among the recent arrivals. Stovold is an imposing centre-half who has scored twice in four games.
While the majority of the squad featured in Europe last summer, Agg also has Champions League qualifier experience as a player, scoring twice for Cardiff Metropolitan Ladies FC in 2016-17, and featuring for FFC Frankfurt in 2017–18.
“It’s something that you dream of when you’re growing up playing, to play in the Champions League,” as Athlone winger Roisin Molloy told The 42 last year.
“It’s massive for Irish women’s football. I think the league has improved massively in the last few years, and there’s a lot of quality in the league. It’s just really important that we’re able to show, on a European level, that we’re not just there to make up the numbers, that we really want to be competing at this level.”
Athlone have been the standard-bearers in recent seasons, winning back-to-back league titles and two of the last three FAI Cups, with managerial turnover a common theme from Ciaran Kilduff to Colin Fortune to John Sullivan and now Agg.
But they’re an experienced, balanced team, who know exactly what it takes. And with free-scoring Scheriff leading the line in a well-oiled machine, another memorable run is definitely possible.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland champions Glentoran will face Latvian outfit Dinamo Riga in their first round semi-final in Wrexham, with the Welsh champions or Pyunik of Armenia their potential final opponents.
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Champions League dream: Athlone's latest European adventure begins in Poland
ATHLONE TOWN ARE all set for another European adventure.
The League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division champions are in Poland, hoping for another magical run after their 2025 exploits.
ŽFK Skopje 2014 of North Macedonia are their opponents as the Uefa Women’s Champions League first qualifying round gets underway on Wednesday [KO 10am, available to stream on nowe.emocje.tv].
Win that, and Lily Agg’s side will progress to the final of the one-venue mini-tournament at Zagłębiowski Park Sosnowiec – over an hour’s drive from Kraków – on Saturday. Hosts KKS Czarni Sosnowiec or Georgia’s WFC Nike await there, with the prize a ticket to the second round next month.
The Midlanders reached that juncture last year, becoming the first Irish team since Raheny United in 2014/15 to come through the first qualifying round after comfortable wins over Cardiff City and ŽNK Agram in Athlone. Icelandic champions Breiðablik ended their Champions League journey thereafter, but they dropped to the Uefa Women’s Europa Cup after beating Crvena Zvezda. (They fell to Glasgow City there.)
It is the same format this campaign: the runners-up and third-placed teams from the second qualifying round tournaments get another chance in the Europa Cup, alongside those eliminated in the third qualifying round. Lose before that in the Champions League, and the qualification dream dies.
Athlone will be confident in clearing the first hurdle anyway, after a 4-0 win over Cardiff last season. ŽFK Skopje 2014 are among the lower-ranked sides involved, yet to win on the European stage, with North Macedonia 46th in the Uefa coefficients compared to Ireland’s 35th. They are out of season, having last played in May when they won their league by 12 points, with their entire squad North Macedonian.
Town, meanwhile, have reaped the rewards of blending domestic talent with international stars. US-born Dana Scheriff, Madie Gibson and Hannah Waesch are among the best players in the Women’s Premier Division.
Agg was a somewhat left-field appointment in May, but the injured Republic of Ireland international has settled well. She is unbeaten in her five games in charge, winning all but one (a 1-1 draw with title rivals Shelbourne) as they sit top of the table.
The 32-year-old has bolstered her squad, with English duo Sofia Stovold and Phoebe Hampson among the recent arrivals. Stovold is an imposing centre-half who has scored twice in four games.
While the majority of the squad featured in Europe last summer, Agg also has Champions League qualifier experience as a player, scoring twice for Cardiff Metropolitan Ladies FC in 2016-17, and featuring for FFC Frankfurt in 2017–18.
“It’s something that you dream of when you’re growing up playing, to play in the Champions League,” as Athlone winger Roisin Molloy told The 42 last year.
“It’s massive for Irish women’s football. I think the league has improved massively in the last few years, and there’s a lot of quality in the league. It’s just really important that we’re able to show, on a European level, that we’re not just there to make up the numbers, that we really want to be competing at this level.”
Athlone have been the standard-bearers in recent seasons, winning back-to-back league titles and two of the last three FAI Cups, with managerial turnover a common theme from Ciaran Kilduff to Colin Fortune to John Sullivan and now Agg.
But they’re an experienced, balanced team, who know exactly what it takes. And with free-scoring Scheriff leading the line in a well-oiled machine, another memorable run is definitely possible.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland champions Glentoran will face Latvian outfit Dinamo Riga in their first round semi-final in Wrexham, with the Welsh champions or Pyunik of Armenia their potential final opponents.
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