Steve Feeney returns as Sligo Rovers Women's Team Manager for 2025 season

Sligo Rovers have announced that Steve Feeney will be at the helm of their senior women’s team for 2025.

Feeney led the Bit o’Red into the Women’s National League when they first joined in 2022, guiding them to 8th and 9th place finishes in their opening two seasons.

In October 2023, he stepped down from the role. However, after a challenging year that saw Sligo finish bottom of the 11-team league, Feeney has returned to the hot seat for the 2025 season.

Speaking to Conall Collier on the club’s website, www.sligorovers.com, Feeney said: “I decided to take a break at the end of the 2023 season, and that gave me a chance to recharge the batteries.”

“I suppose I missed the involvement with a team playing at a good level, and I’m really looking forward to it now.”

Feeney’s first task will be to rebuild confidence at The Showgrounds, among a squad who won just one league game last year and scored only 13 times in 20 league matches.

Sligo also conceded the joint-highest number of league goals, along with Cork City, letting in 41 last season.

Positives for Feeney include the presence of promising young players such as Alice Lillie, the Loughrey sisters Jodie and Keri, Anna McDaniel, who scored three times in the latter months of the campaign, and Keeva Flynn, recently named the FAI Women’s U17 International Player of the Year.

He will also aim to secure the services of more experienced players like Paula McGrory, Muireann Devaney, and 2024 Player of the Year Eimear Lafferty, who originally signed for Feeney in August 2023.