Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne both have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Conference League after their victories against CD Santa Clara and Linfield. By doing so, the two teams from Dublin have already achieved a phenomenal success for Irish football. Currently, a third club is also living its very own European dream.
The Athlone Town Women’s side even had the chance to reach the final round of the Champions League until Wednesday. However, the Irish champions lost 3-1 to Breidablik UBK from Iceland in the second qualifying round. In the previous round, the Midlanders had been able to celebrate two victories in their own stadium. On July 30, Athlone won 4-0 against Cardiff City. Three days later, the Lissywollen Stadium was sold out again as Colin Fortune’s side defeated Agram Zagreb from Croatia 3-0.
Players Feel the Pride of the Community
Due to these results, the team managed to ignite a remarkable euphoria in and around Athlone. To give an example, US midfielder Hannah Wesch, who joined the Town from Texas, recently stated in an RTÉ interview, „Truth be told, I’ve not been in an environment where a community kind of rallies around a team, let alone a women’s soccer team before. This is completely foreign to me. It’s been an absolute rollercoaster of emotion for me. I’ve got people who don’t even know me giving me hugs, embracing me, giving me part of their town. I just think that’s so cool because you really don’t get that in many places.“ While the men’s team is at the bottom of the First Division, the women, who were only admitted to the League of Ireland five years ago, have clearly established themselves as one of the best teams in the country.
Even on Wednesday against Breidablik, Athlone delivered a decent performance. After a goalless first half, the opponent from Iceland took the lead in the 47th minute thanks to a goal by Samantha Smith. In the Sportpark Schreurserve in Enschede, the Netherlands, where the match was held, the Midlanders showed a good response. After a corner from Madi Gibson, Izzy Groves equalised in the 59th minute. Ultimately, Breidablik was the slightly better team. Smith in the 76th minute and Berglind Thorvaldsdottir just a minute later secured the defeat for Athlone.
Next Game Against FK Crvena Zvezda
Despite this result, the Midlanders could still play some international matches this season. On Saturday, Athlone will play again in Enschede against the Serbian club FK Crvena Zvezda. If they win this match, the Town would reach the qualifying round of the Women’s Europa Cup, a newly established, second-tier European competition.