The 2024 season marked 12 years since DLR Waves were formed and joined the league. This was the 13th season of the domestic league and the second year it was known as the League of Ireland.

2024 saw an incredibly competitive league campaign with a three-horse title race between Athlone Town, Shelbourne, and Galway United coming down to the penultimate weekend of the season. Athlone Town were crowned League of Ireland champions for the first time. Galway United won the All-Island Cup for the second season. The season concluded with the FAI cup final which was contested between Shelbourne and Athlone Town at Tallaght Stadium, with Shelbourne lifting the cup.

For the Ireland senior international side it was an eventful year with challenging games in League A of the Euro 2025 Qualifiers. The Girls in Green had the difficult task of taking on England, France, and Sweden, all of whom were in the top 5 of the FIFA World Rankings when the draw was made. Ireland lost the first 5 games but picked up a famous win against France in the final game. With a play-off place guaranteed the Irish team went on to beat Georgia 9-0 over two legs in a semi-final, before narrowly losing to Wales in the play-off final, meaning the team once again missed out on the Euros.

DLR Waves in 2024

DLR Waves played a total of 25 competitive games with a record of 5 wins, 5 draws, and 15 losses. The Waves scored a total of 21 goals and conceded 45 goals. The majority of DLR Waves home games were played at the UCD Bowl with the home All-Island Cup group stage game being played at Whitehall Stadium.

It was a year of ups and downs for The Waves. The season started promisingly with a resilient performance that saw The Waves earn a point at home to a strong Shamrock Rovers side (for a brief moment DLR Waves sat top of the league table on the opening day of the season). From there it was a disappointing run of early results which saw DLR struggle, particularly through injuries to key players.

Things would turn around with a run of 3 games unbeaten run including a first win of the season in early June against Sligo Rovers. An on pitch highlight was how DLR fared against the 2023 champions Peamount United. Rugile Auskalnyte was the hero in a 2-2 draw at PRL Park before a thrilling victory later in the season over the Peas at the UCD Bowl (a first win in the fixture for The Waves since 2017).

2024 was significant for seeing the UCD Bowl host a televised Women’s League of Ireland match. The TG4 cameras were on the Bowl as DLR hosted rivals Bohemians.

The FAI Cup offered another year of heartbreak for The Waves. The opening round saw DLR comfortably pick up a win against non-league Whitehall Rangers. However it was Quarter-Final disappointment yet again as The Waves were beaten at home by Sligo Rovers. A few weeks later The Waves would pick up their biggest league win of the season against the same opposition.

On the pitch the season was notable for the emergence of young stars Keelin Dodd and Aisling Meehan. Dodd was a regular in the starting line-up and picked up multiple player of the match awards, including in the televised game. As for Meehan, the young forward impressed in attack and had success as an underage Ireland international, including scoring a hat trick against Portugal in a 5-2 victory. Dodd ended the year as our joint top scorer alongside Michelle Doonan. Striker Doonan offered a consistent threatening focal point up front for the first half of the campaign before departing the club during the Summer.

Club captain Jess Gleeson and vice captain Eve Badana provided experienced heads to guide the younger players, with both Ireland internationals playing pivotal roles at the back. Chloe McCarthy impressed on her return to The Waves with solid performances throughout the season. Amber Cosgrove started all but one competitive game throughout the season. Amber had an excellent season throughout the campaign and was awarded player of the season.

2023 Player’s Player of the Year Izzy Finnegan was again a pivotal starter in midfield, playing in all but one game. Robyn Bolger was an impressive player going forward and contributed consistently to attacking moves in a positive way. Neema Nyangasi missed the majority of the season due to a serious eye injury but showed great character and resilience in recovery and managed to return before the end of the campaign.

The 2024 DLR Waves awards night took place at the end of November.

Player of the Season: Amber Cosgrove
U19 Player of the Season: Emily McCann
U17 Player of the Season: Aoife Kavanagh
Goal of the Season: Keelin Dodd (vs Sligo)
International Recognition Awards: Aisling Meehan & Keelin Dodd

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Athlone Town	20	15	2	3	40	16	24	47
2	Shelbourne	20	13	6	1	38	9	29	45
3	Galway United	20	13	2	5	43	16	27	41
4	Wexford	20	8	7	5	28	20	8	31
5	Shamrock Rovers	20	6	9	5	32	23	9	27
6	Peamount United	20	7	5	8	24	26	-2	26
7	Treaty United	20	7	2	11	23	27	-4	23
8	Bohemians	20	6	4	10	17	32	-15	22
9	Cork City	20	5	3	12	14	41	-27	18
10	DLR Waves	20	4	4	12	15	36	-21	16
11	Sligo Rovers	20	1	6	13	13	41	-28	9

DLR Waves Squad Throughout 2024

Thank you to our photographers Peter Minogue and Iremide Awosika for their contributions throughout the season

Below are:

2024 Results

Results in Chronological Order From Left to Right

2024 Senior Player Stats

Underage Squads

DLR Waves entered squads in the u19 and u17 League of Ireland. Underage home games were generally played at Marley Park.

Under 19’s DLR Waves

Squad
Nadine Raymond (C), Keelin Dodd, Aisling Meehan, Amber Cullen, Eve Mahoney, Lily Ryan,
Pia Madden, Lucy Heffernan, Emilie Slyne, Isabel Piarre, Lara Finnegan, Ava O’Kearney,
Laura Cahill, Freya Downer. Emily McCann, Megan Doyle

Results

Under 17’s DLR Waves

Squad
Emma Lamb, Kate Gayson, Ella McMahon, Laura Dunne, Leah Jennings
Keela Murphy, Laila Mackey, Aoife Fennell, Kaci Dardis
Erin Moore, Sadbh Hartley, Caitiona Kearns, Clara McKeown
Kaylyn Corcoran, Carmen O’Brien, Aoife Kavanagh, Alice Megannety

Results

EA Sports Wu17 Academy Cup
Round 1
August 10th: Galway United 2-0 DLR Waves

Thank You

DLR Waves would like to extend a sincere to everyone who supported our club this year by coming to games, subscribing on LOI TV, and by club merchandise. We would like to especially thank the DLR Waves Supporters Club who continuously show our side support.
In addition to this DLR Waves would like to thank all the volunteers who help the club run throughout the year, with a particular thanks to chairperson Ciarán Doyle and secretary Barry Hall.
Finally we would like to thank all of our coaching staff and players from the senior team, to our u19’s and u17’s teams and community partner clubs. Our players and staff work extremely hard and have shown a lot of dedication throughout the year.