| Competition: | Women's National League |
| Season: | 2022 |
| Winners: | Shelbourne 3rd title |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Dates: | 5 March 2022 – 29 October 2022 |
| League Topscorer: | Áine O'Gorman (22 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (23 April 2022) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (2 July 2022) |
| Highest Scoring: | (2 July 2022) |
| Matches: | 135 |
| Total Goals: | 457 |
| Prevseason: | 2021 |
| Nextseason: | 2023 |
The 2022 Women's National League known as the SSE Airtricity WNL for sponsorship reasons,[1] 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.[2] Shelbourne, as defending champions from the previous season, won the 2022 league by defeating Wexford Youths on the final day of the season.[3]
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.[4]
| Team | Home town/suburb | Stadium | 2021 finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th | ||||
| 6th | ||||
| 8th | ||||
| 4th | ||||
| 5th | ||||
| 2nd | ||||
| 1st | ||||
| NA | ||||
| 9th | ||||
| 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 | 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 |
| 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[5] |
| Sligo Rovers | Pre-season | Steve Feeney | 15 December 2021[6] | |||
| Treaty United | Pre-season | Don O'Riordan | 29 December 2021[7] | |||
| Cork City | Paul Farrell | Resignation[8] | 9 May 2022 | 9th | Jess Lawton (interim) | 10 May 2022[9] |
| Cork City | Jess Lawton (interim) | End of interim period | 31 May 2022 | 9th | Danny Murphy | 31 May 2022[10] |
| Treaty United | Don O'Riordan | Resignation[11] | 7 November 2022 | 10th | ||
The ten teams played each other three times, with a mid-season break from 12 June to 1 July 2022.[12]
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 twice.
Teams play each other once.
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
| Month | Player of the Month | References | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | ||
| March | Stephanie Roche | Peamount United | [13] |
| April | Laurie Ryan | Athlone Town | [14] |
| May | Jessica Ziu | Shelbourne | [15] |
| June/July | Emma Doherty | Sligo Rovers | [16] |
| August/September | Ciara Rossiter | Wexford Youths | [17] |
| October | Alex Kavanagh | Shelbourne | [18] |
| 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) | ||||||||||||
| Defenders | Jessica Gargan (Shelbourne) | Jessica Hennessy (Athlone Town) | 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) | Emily Corbet (Athlone Town) | |||||||||||
In February 2021 the Football Association of Ireland announced that all WNL matches would be streamed free of charge on the new LOITV platform.[20] In February 2022 the TG4 Irish language television network confirmed an intention to broadcast nine WNL matches in 2022.[21] Ultimately 10 games were broadcast live,[22] which attracted over 500,000 viewers.[23]