The draw for the Avenir Sports Women’s All-Island Cup has been made – with 16 teams taking part in the inaugural staging of the competition.
SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division champions Shelbourne were paired with Athlone Town, Galway United, Linfield in Group A, while SportsDirect Women’s Premiership winners Cliftonville will come up against Bohemians, Derry City and Sligo Rovers.
In the other groups, Glentoran take on Peamount United, Shamrock Rovers and Wexford Youths, then Cork City face off with Crusaders, DLR Waves and Treaty United.
In order to aid the Ireland Women’s National Team’s preparations for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season was structured to allow for a period where no League games would take place. This new competition will now be played during that scheduled break to ensure that women’s domestic football continues to be played as excitement for the World Cup builds.
The competition, which is supported by both the Football Association of Ireland and the Irish Football Association, will involve 16 teams in total – 11 from the League of Ireland, 5 from the Northern Ireland Football League – split into four groups of four teams.
The group games will take place on June 18th, June 25th and July 2nd.
The top teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be played on July 9th, before the last two compete for the silverware in the Final on July 16th.
Avenir Sports All-Island Cup
Group A | Athlone Town, Galway United, Linfield, Shelbourne
Group B | Glentoran, Peamount United, Shamrock Rovers, Wexford Youths
Group C | Bohemians, Cliftonville, Derry City, Sligo Rovers
Group D | Cork City, Crusaders, DLR Waves, Treaty United
Fixtures
Group Stage – Round 1 | June 18th
Group Stage – Round 2 | June 25th
Group Stage – Round 3 | July 2nd
Semi-Finals | July 9th
Final | July 16th.
