| Competition: | Women's National League |
| Season: | 2021 |
| Winners: | Shelbourne 2nd title |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Dates: | 27 March 2021 – 13 November 2021 |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Shelbourne |
| League Topscorer: | Áine O'Gorman (16 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (30 October 2021) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (3 October 2021) |
| Highest Scoring: | (3 October 2021) |
| Matches: | 108 |
| Highest Attendance: | 1,007 Cork City 3–1 Treaty United (6 November 2021)[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
| Updated: | 13 November 2021 |
The 2021 Women's National League, known as the SSE Airtricity WNL for sponsorship reasons,[2] is the 11th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland since its establishment in 2011. Peamount United were the defending champions, having won their third league title the previous season.
In January 2021 the League attracted a new title sponsor, as SSE Airtricity agreed a two-year renewal of their existing deal with the (men's) League of Ireland and extended it to also cover the WNL.[3] The Bank of Ireland also signed a three-year deal as an associate sponsor of the League of Ireland and WNL.[4] This followed a season without a WNL sponsorship deal in 2020.[5]
The 1,007 spectators at Cork City's 3–1 win over Treaty United on 6 November 2021 at Turners Cross set a new WNL record for the highest attendance.
A dramatic conclusion to the season saw defending champions Peamount United unexpectedly squander a two-goal lead to lose 5–2 at home to Galway on the final match day, allowing Shelbourne to claim the title with their 3–2 win over Wexford Youths.[6] [7] Both matches were subject to live television coverage, following the WNL's agreement of a broadcast arrangement with TG4 in September 2021.[8]
During the season a number of players transferred to professional clubs in England and Scotland. Peamount manager James O'Callaghan called for the formation of a task force, to examine the possibility of making the WNL semi-professional in future: "It's great for those players that they are getting to play professionally, but it's not great for the league to be losing them."[9]
The same nine teams who had contested the abridged 2020 season returned for 2021.[10]
| Team | Home town/suburb | Stadium | 2020 finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th | ||||
| 9th | ||||
| 4th | ||||
| 5th | ||||
| 8th | ||||
| 1st | ||||
| 2nd | ||||
| 6th | ||||
| 3rd |
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 | Kayla Brady | Nike | Stodge Face |
| Bohemians | Sean Byrne | Sophie Watters | O'Neills | ICHH - Inner City Helping Homeless |
| Cork City | Rónán Collins | Becky Cassin | Adidas | Jackie Lennox Chip Shop |
| DLR Waves | Graham Kelly | Catherine Cronin | Jako | CDS - Clare Distribution Services |
| Galway | Billy Clery | Shauna Fox | Acerbis | The Plaza Group |
| Peamount United | James O'Callaghan | Áine O'Gorman | Uhlsport | SPAR Kelly's Newcastle |
| Shelbourne | Noel King | Pearl Slattery | Umbro | Hamptons Homes |
| Treaty United | Niall Connolly | Esra Kangal | Umbro | Ei Electronics |
| Wexford Youths | Tom Elmes | Kylie Murphy | Jako | Energia |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelbourne | Dave Bell | Resignation[11] | 16 December 2020 | Pre-season | Noel King | 31 December 2020[12] |
| Treaty United | Dave Rooney | Resignation[13] | 1 January 2021 | Pre-season | Niall Connolly | 17 January 2021[14] |
| Galway | Billy Clery | Resignation[15] | 19 May 2021 | 5th | Stephen Lally | 22 May 2021[16] |
| Cork City | Rónán Collins | Resignation[17] | 28 May 2021 | 9th | Paul Farrell | 16 June 2021[18] |
| Wexford Youths | Tom Elmes | Resignation[19] | 9 June 2021 | 3rd | Stephen Quinn | 9 June 2021[20] |
| Treaty United | Niall Connolly | Mutual consent | 12 October 2021[21] | 9th | ||
The nine teams play each other three times, with a mid-season break from 7 June to 25 June 2021.[22]
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.
Teams play each other three times, with one team idle on every round of fixtures.
Last updated after fixtures on 13 November 2021.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Áine O'Gorman | Peamount United | 16 |
| 2 | Kylie Murphy | Wexford Youths | 15 |
| 3 | Eleanor Ryan Doyle | Peamount United | 14 |
| Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths | 14 | |
| 5 | Saoirse Noonan | Shelbourne | 12 |
| 6 | Jenna Slattery | Treaty United | 10 |
Source: Extratime.com
| Month | Player of the Month | References | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | ||
| April | Rachel Kearns | Galway | [23] |
| May | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle | Peamount | [24] |
| June/July | Kylie Murphy | Wexford | [25] |
| August | Savannah McCarthy | Galway | [26] |
| September | Karen Duggan | Peamount | [27] |
| October | Jessie Stapleton | Shelbourne | [28] |
| November | Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths | [29] |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| WNL Player of the Year | Kylie Murphy | Wexford Youths |
| Young Player of the Year | Aoibheann Clancy | Wexford Youths |
| Manager of the Year | Noel King | Shelbourne |
| WNL Team of the Year | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | ||||||||||||
| Defenders | Jessie Stapleton (Shelbourne) | Lauren Dwyer (Wexford Youths) | Savannah McCarthy (Galway) | ||||||||||
| Midfielders | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Ciara Grant (Shelbourne) | Karen Duggan (Peamount United) | Aoibheann Clancy (Wexford Youths) | Ciara Rossiter (Wexford Youths) | ||||||||
| Forwards | Kylie Murphy (Wexford Youths) | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | |||||||||||
In February 2021 the Football Association of Ireland announced that all WNL matches would be streamed worldwide, free of charge on the new LOITV platform.[32] In September 2021 the TG4 Irish language television network agreed a deal to broadcast four matches. Alex Kavanagh scored the first televised goal, in Shelbourne's 1–0 win over DLR Waves at Tolka Park.[33] The 309,000 viewing figures exceeded expectations, and TG4 extended the arrangement into the following season.[34]