Mayo influence grows as Rovers get ready for season's start
The Mayo influence at Sligo Rovers is growing as the club gets ready for the start of the Women’s National League season.
History will be made on Saturday as the Bit o' Red play their first ever game in the WNL, taking on three-time champions Peamount in Dublin at 5 p.m.
The latest Rovers recruit is Fiona Doherty, a native of Foxford, who is well known in GAA circles as a senior player for her native county.
Doherty joins Rovers having rediscovered her love for football in recent years. The 25-year-old forward has signed for Rovers having impressed manager Steve Feeney during a pre-season friendly, during which she played against Rovers for Conn Rangers.
As a youth, Fiona played football for Ballyvary Blue Bombers before she started to concentrate on GAA. A member of An Garda Síochana, she is based in Letterkenny.
Said Fiona: “Last year I joined Conn Rangers after breaking my thumb which withdrew me from Gaelic earlier than I wanted. But it brought back the love for soccer I’ve always had but pushed aside when I was younger.”
Doherty is stepping away from GAA for a period but is planning to return later in the year. For now, however, her focus is on Rovers and the new season.
Elsewhere, IT Sligo sports scholar Lauren McLellan has also signed for Rovers. The 20-year-old Manulla native plays as a centre-forward or striker, but has previously played as a goalkeeper. In fact, she played in the first Sligo Rovers WU17 team as a goalkeeper but later realised she preferred to play outfield, scoring goals!
McLellan started playing football with Manulla before moving on to Castlebar Celtic, where she enjoyed a lot of success. She then signed for the Rovers Under 17 side and later spent two years with Kiltimagh Knock United before moving back to Manulla, where she was part of the side that won the Mayo League for the third year in a row. She plays with IT Sligo, where she is in her second year of a sports scholarship.
In addition, former Castlebar Celtic and Galway WFC striker Aoife Brennan (28) has joined Sligo Rovers for the club’s first season in the Women’s National League. Another Mayo native, she played her underage soccer with Ballyglass before moving to Manulla FC around the age of 15.
Aoife was a student at IT Sligo for four years and played in the Women’s National League for both Castlebar Celtic and Galway WFC.
Like Doherty, Brennan has a strong GAA background and enjoyed much success with her club, Carnacon, over the years. Now, having scored four goals in pre-season, she is hoping to keep that going when the season starts on Saturday.
Another Mayo native to sign for Rovers is Amy Roddy, from Ballina. The 30-year-old has played football since she was a child and enjoyed a great deal of success with Ballina Town at senior level, winning county and national titles, including the FAI Intermediate Cup.
She previously played football with IT Sligo during her four years there, winning numerous titles, and is also an established GAA player, playing for Mayo at both underage and senior level.
A familiar face joining her at the Bit o' Red is another former Ballina Town player, Orna O'Dowd, who is a native of west Sligo. The 31-year-old joins Rovers from Conn Rangers. She began her football career as a youth with Kilglass Enniscrone United before moving to Ballina Town at Under 12, where she gradually made her way up to the senior squad and, like Roddy, enjoyed a considerable degree of success in Belleek.
GAA was a big focus for Orna throughout the years too, and she enjoyed success with her club, Eoghan Rua, at county and provincial levels.
There are plenty more Rovers players with connections to Mayo. Lauren Boles, from Ballintogher, played in the inaugural WNL season in 2011 with Castlebar Celtic and altogether spent three seasons at Celtic Park either side of a stint with DLR Waves; Leah Kelly, from Templeboy, spent two seasons with Ballina Town; Sligo native Katie Melly played for Castlebar Celtic in the WNL; and Emma Hansberry, the Sligo native who became the Bit o' Red's first signing, also played in the inaugural WNL for Castlebar Celtic in 2011, where her performances earned her a place in the WNL Team of the Season and the Young Player of the Year award.