Cliftonville Ladies v Linfield Ladies

Official Matchday Magazine of Ireland’s Oldest Football Club
Volume 40 / Issue 23 / Online
Match Sponsor: TeamFeePay
Cliftonville Ladies v Linfield Ladies
Danske Bank Women’s Premiership
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Solitude, Belfast, 7.45pm

A
HEAD of tonight’s
game, I would like to
start by taking this
opportunity to say how
proud I am to be the Manager of
Cliftonville Ladies.
To manage any Cliftonville team
is an honour so to lead one of the
senior sides is an absolute privilege.
Over the last few weeks, I have
had lots of people ask why we
would make the switch from
men’s football to women’s, but
it’s all football and we are all one
Club. This is a great project at a
time when Ladies football is
really starting to grow and develop.
There is a massive hype around
next year’s European Championships
and so there should be.
Having the opportunity to manage
and coach players that will
play in that tournament is brilliant.
As a management team, we were
all looking forward to the start of
the season.
I could sense the players also
looking forward to it as you
could see it through the training
sessions.
When we came into the Ladies
side of the Club, we could see the
potential - it was part of the
attraction, we just knew we
needed to gain some quality and
depth to really help progress us.
“
Last week’s win was a very good start
but we are all buzzing to get playing at
Solitude again this evening.
”
We worked very hard on the
recruitment front and were very
pleased with the five players we
were able to bring in.
Grace McKimm and Shona Davis
were our first additions.
Grace joined from tonight’s opponents,
Linfield Ladies, while
Shona returned to the Reds
following a short spell with
Glentoran.
As the new season approached,
we bolstered the squad further
by adding three Northern Ireland
internationals in Louise McDaniel
and the McGuinness sisters,
Kirsty and Caitlin.
All three are also former Blues
players, with Louise having also
spent time with
Blackburn Rovers
and Hearts.
Kirsty and Caitlin -
who scored on her
debut in last
week’s 4-0 win
over Derry City at
The Brandywell -
arrived from
Sion Swifts and I
have no doubt
that all of the
new girls will
have a big impact
for us.
Their arrival has
been a boost and
has already started
bringing the
best out of players
around them - as Niamh
Connolly showed with her two
goals in that game at Derry.
Last week’s win was a very good
start but we are all buzzing to
get playing at Solitude again this
evening.
Training has been brilliant this
week with a really good atmosphere.
The five new signings
have really styled in and have
quickly become a part of the
Cliftonville family, so we’re all
set for a match we’re really looking
forward to.
John McGrady
2

April
28: Derry City Women 0-4 Cliftonville Ladies
May
5: Cliftonville Ladies v Linfield Ladies
12: Crusaders Strikers v Cliftonville Ladies
19: Cliftonville Ladies v Glentoran Women
26: Sion Swifts v Cliftonville Ladies
June
2: Linfield Ladies v Cliftonville Ladies
9: Cliftonville Ladies v Derry City
18: Cliftonville Ladies v Crusaders
23: Glentoran v Cliftonville Ladies
30: Cliftonville Ladies v Sion Swifts
July
7: Cliftonville Ladies v Linfield Ladies
21: Derry City v Cliftonville Ladies
28: Crusaders Strikers v Cliftonville Ladies
August
4: Cliftonville Ladies v Glentoran Women
11: Sion Swifts Ladies v Cliftonville Ladies
25: Linfield Ladies v Cliftonville Ladies
September
1: Cliftonville Ladies v Derry City Women
8: Cliftonville Ladies v Crusaders Strikers
29: Glentoran Women v Cliftonville Ladies
October
6: Cliftonville Ladies v Sion Swifts Ladies
3

A
FTER the rollercoaster
that 2020 turned out
to be, Cliftonville
Ladies were unsure of
exactly what this season would
hold.
This time last year, the team
were excited and looking forward
to starting our campaign
after a strong pre-season of
preparations.
Then came Coronavirus and the
world shut down.
After multiple lockdowns, training
alone and Zoom training
sessions, the campaign turned
into what felt like a very long pre
-season and ultimately ‘finished’
with many players feeling unsatisfied
with our performance. I
say ‘finished’ because, for many,
the season never even felt like it
started never mind finished!
After last season, the Club decide
to restructure and focus on
the development of Cliftonville
Ladies.
This upheaval brought in a whole
new management team including
John McGrady, Martin
Douglas, Stuart Irvine and former
player Clare Carson.
With these changes came a
strong sense of support for the
Ladies’ team from the Club, so
we were set for a new preseason
with a rejuvenated determination
to find ourselves
and play as a Cliftonville Ladies
team should.
In January, the players were
training and working hard on
their own fitness.
Finally, February came around
and we could get back together
as a squad and get training. It
was clear to see there was a
sense of anticipation amongst
the players to see how we would
develop together over the coming
months.
After a strong and committed
pre-season, it was clear to see
there was a positive atmosphere
amongst the squad and everyone
was looking forward to the
first competitive kick of the
season.
This new sense of who we are as
Cliftonville Ladies was obvious
to all within the women’s football
community and began attracting
players to want to come
and play for Cliftonville.
This season we have welcomed
some prominent international
figures with the addition of
Kirsty McGuinness, Caitlin
McGuinness and Louise McDaniel
and also young rising stars,
Grace McKimm and Shona Davis.
As a squad, we are now filled
with players who are eager to
play every match with the Cliftonville
shirt on, everyone has a
clear and cohesive goal for the
season and we are counting
down the days to each match.
After with a strong 4-0 win
over Derry City Ladies, we
now want to continue to
develop and progress as a
squad throughout the
season.
Tonight we have our first
home match against
Linfield Ladies and to
say we are excited for
the game would be
the understatement
of the season!
17 5

C
LIFTONVILLE Ladies
were delighted to announce
three exciting
new partnership agreements
on the eve of the 2021
season.
The Reds, who commenced their
new Danske Bank Women’s
Premiership campaign with a 4-0
victory over Derry City Women at
The Brandywell last Wednesday,
will proudly sport the Eimear’s
Wish logo on the front of jerseys
during the forthcoming term.
Dream Spanish Homes and Pentagon
have, in addition, taken
out sponsorship positions on the
back of the Ladies’ shirts and
everyone at Solitude is very
pleased to welcome them
aboard.
Eimear Smyth was a Belfast
woman who was diagnosed with
stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,
a type of blood cancer, in September
2016 and who sadly
passed away at the age of 25
from complications relating to a
donor cell stem transplant in
2019.
In her memory, Eimear’s family
have continued to campaign for
those with life-threatening illnesses
by raising awareness of
cell stem donation and, having
first highlighted their story in the
summer of 2019, Cliftonville FC
were only too pleased to assist
her father Sean with February’s
launch of their programme to
raise stem cell donor awareness.
The response to that campaign
has been phenomenal, with
every Danske Bank Premiership
Club lending their assistance.
“One of Eimear’s last wishes was
for me to get as many people as
6
possible to join the stem cell
donor registry in Northern Ireland,”
explains Sean.
“In addition to the Cliftonville
Ladies team displaying the
Eimear’s Wish Dragonfly logo on
the shirts, pitchside banners will
be promoting stem cell donor
awareness and the Club will also
be using their website to encourage
supporters to join the stem
cell donor registry.”
He added: “Eimear loved football.
We are overwhelmed and
deeply moved by Cliftonville’s
and the Irish Premiership’s sup-

port for the campaign and to our
family.
“We will be eternally grateful for
the love and support they have
showered us with.
“Football is the people’s game
and what better way to give back
to the supporters than by creating
hope for people with life
threatening illnesses such as
blood disease?”
You can join the Stem Cell Donor
registry, or donate money to this
worthy cause, today at
www.anthonynolan.org and
www.dkms.org.uk.
Antoinette Herdman, of Pentagon,
said: “Pentagon is excited
to continue our ongoing sponsorship
of the Cliftonville Ladies
football team as we believe it is
important to support women’s
sport throughout Northern Ireland
especially during these
unprecedented times. We look
forward to cheering them on this
season.”
Dream
Spanish
Homes
representative
Gerry Flynn
- who was,
of course,
a Premier League title winner
with the Reds in 1998 - added:
“We are delighted to be sponsoring
Cliftonville Ladies this season.
“Women’s football is on an upward
curve and, as a former
Cliftonville player, I’m delighted
to be giving back to the
Club and aiding their development.
Dream Spanish
Homes and Cliftonville
Ladies are on similar trajectories
in that we are all
growing, reaching a wider
audience and striving
to be number one in our
respective fields of
play.
“Good luck from the
only agent who
gives you more.”
17 7

On the defensive:
Toni-Leigh
Finnegan and
Shona Davis
clear up
Cait header:
Caitlin
McGuinness
takes the
acclaim after
her goal (inset)
8

Wednesday, April 28, 2021 ::: Danske Bank Women’s Premiership ::: Derry City Women 0-4 Cliftonville Ladies Pics by Damien Toolan
Highlights
Shon bright: Shona Davis
in the thick of things
Olly good:
Niamh Connolly is
all smiles after her
first goal
Kirst of pace:
Kirsty
McGuinness
drives
forward
9

I
T goes without saying that Just three points separated the
the last year has been a derby duo at the top of the
strange one for Irish standings when the curtain fell,
League football as a whole although Glentoran’s superior
- but the absence of Linfield goal difference meant they were
Ladies from the Champions able to breathe a little more
rostrum was a particularly easily as they counted down to
notable event.
The Blues had won the title for
four consecutive seasons before
being pipped to the post by
their first title since 2014.
All of which means that Phil
Lewis’ side find themselves in
the unusual position of not looking
cross-city rivals Glentoran Women
forward to Champions
last time out.
With Covid restrictions leading
to the campaign being reduced
to just 10 rounds of fixtures,
contests between Linfield and
the Glens were always likely to
prove decisive - though Sion
Swifts were also firmly in the
mix until the latter stages.
League football in the months
ahead, with domestic matters
their sole focus as the 2021
season progresses - a situation
that Lewis is relishing being a
part of.
“Our intention is to try and win
the league title back,” he recently
declared.
“We have very good players at
Linfield and we are approaching
this season with no fear - to
instil that attitude into the players,
such as with Kenny Shiels
did with Northern Ireland.
“It’s really important for the
players to not have a mindset
whereby they are scared of
making mistakes and have
the self-confidence to play
to their strengths.”
He added: “This League
will go down to some big
games and there is no
question that we are
going to work extremely
hard, give
our all and continue
to improve as a
team.”
17 11

T
HE signings
of
three
players
who helped Northern
Ireland Women qualify
for the European Championships
was always
going to garner headlines
on the eve of the new Danske
Bank Women’s Premiership
season - but Cliftonville
boss John McGrady was just
as pleased to get two up-andcoming
stars on board to go
alongside the undoubted talent
that is already on the books at
Solitude.
The McGuinness sisters – 18-
year-old Caitlin and 26-year-old
Kirsty – joined from Sion Swifts,
while their fellow former Linfield
team-mate McDaniel has signed
from Hearts following a spell
with Blackburn Rovers.
All three are senior internationals,
with the elder McGuinness
sibling having made her Northern
Ireland bow aged just 15.
“We are delighted with all three
signings,” said McGrady, who
handed Reds debuts to all three
in last week’s opening night
defeat of Derry City at The Brandywell,
where Caitlin McGuinness
was among the scorers in a 4-0
win.
“All three have played a big part
in Northern Ireland getting to the
European Championships. They
will add quality and depth to the
current squad.
“Kirsty comes with a vast depth
of experience. Her goal scoring
abilities and assists speak for
themselves. She will improve
any team and has had a
lot of interest from
every Irish League
Club and teams
across the water.
12
“Her younger
sister Caitlin is an
exciting young
player who can score goals from
inside and outside the box, while
Louise McDaniel is a talented
midfielder who comes back
home after spells at Blackburn
and Hearts. She has the ability to
open up defences with quality
passes that other players don’t
even think of.”
The trio join a squad full of familiar
faces. In addition to the recognisable
foes they took on
while sporting rival colours, they
are now clubmates with Northern
Ireland skipper Marissa Callaghan
- who scored the opening
goal in last month’s Play-Off
second leg victory over Ukraine
at Seaview which booked Kenny
Shiels’ side their place at next
year’s Finals in England - as well
as Toni-Leigh Finnegan, who has
been a regular feature on the
international stage over the last
year or so.
Among the younger players at
Solitude, Lauren Welsh, Fi Morgan,
Abbie McHenry, Rachel
Norney and Erin Montgomery
were recently part of a Northern
Ireland Under-19 training camp,
where they will have become
quickly acquainted with new
recruits Grace McKimm and Shona
Davis.
16-year-old McKimm (below),
who joined from this evening’s
Premiership opponents Linfield
Ladies, can play at both left-back
or on the wing, while Davis
(circled, inset) – a 17-year-old
defender – returns to Cliftonville
following a year with Glentoran
Women and was thrust straight
into the action when he featured
at The Brandywell seven days
ago.
McGrady admits the new signings
have heightened expectations
around the Club, where
significant off-season restructuring
means Cliftonville entered
the 2021 campaign with a
whole new dynamic on
and off the pitch.
He was appointed
boss amid a raft of
background
changes that saw
Martin Douglas
assume the role of
Head of Women’s

Football, while Clare Carson and
Stuart Irvine were installed on
the coaching set-up.
Elite Player Coach Brendan
Lynch now provides coaching
and player development support
to the Women’s section, with
Amanda Irvine continuing her
position with the Cliftonville Girls
Academy.
“We have seen that there is
quality in the squad, they just
didn’t believe in themselves yet,”
explains McGrady.
“It’s a project too and the Club
really wants to give something
to this and they see the strength
in Women’s football and what’s
going on with the international
team and that they have to grow
the game within the Club.”
Reflecting on the addition of his
recent recruits, he adds: “It
moves our target down the road
a little bit and we need to be in
there challenging.
“We believe we can have a very
good season. Those signings
could make any team a better
team and push any team on to
challenge for the League.
“We are hoping that it adds
depth and quality to the squad
and the players have real matchwinning
qualities and could be
the difference in a lot of games.”
13

Cliftonville
Lauren Currie
Rachel Norney
Lauren Welsh
Shona Davis
Hollie Mailey
Leah McAuley
Grace McKimm
Rachel McKnight
Megan Moran
Fi Morgan
Megan Weatherall
Eirinn Canavan
Marissa Callaghan
Toni-Leigh Finnegan
Rachel McConnell
Louise McDaniel
Abbie McHenry
Yasmin White
Natasha Wilton
Niamh Connolly
Megan Copeland
Caitlin McGuinness
Kirsty McGuinness
Erin Montgomery
Chloe Orr
Roise Thompson
Rosie Zubier
Linfield
Nicole Adams
Kelsie Burrows
Naomi Donnan
Mia Fitzsimmons
Ashley Hutton
Leah McCabe
Kathryn McConnell
Jane McMaster
Caitlin Rae
Genna Brown
Victoria Carleton
Katie Dickson
Ebony Leckey
Sienna Leckey
Abbie Magee
Louise McFrederick
Courtney Moore
Hannah Moore
Cora Morgan
Rebecca Bassett
Amber Dempster
Lucy Johnston
Saskia Love
Rebecca McKenna
Alison Smyth
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FOURTH OFFICIAL
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This evening’s other Premiership fixtures
Crusaders Strikers v Derry City Women
Sion Swifts Ladies v Glentoran Women
Danske Bank Women’s Premiership table
1 Cliftonville Ladies
2 Linfield Ladies
3 Glentoran Women
4 Crusaders Strikers
5 Sion Swifts Ladies
6 Derry City Women
P
1
1
1
1
1
1
W
1
1
1
0
0
0
D
0
0
0
0
0
0
L
0
0
0
1
1
1
F
4
3
1
0
0
0
A
0
0
0
1
3
4
Pts
3
3
3
0
0
0
15