The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams from outside this area. Whilst previously the DWSL was one of the largest women's leagues in Ireland it had been overtaking by the Wexford, MGL and Cork Leagues. In late 2019, the FAI following discussions revamped Women's Football in the Greater Dublin area and the Eastern Women's Football League chaired by the MGL's Tony Gains were granted the only license to run Women's adult football in the Dublin area. The EWFL is ran by committees of the MGL and the Former DWSL In addition to the Premier Division, there was also a Major Division and seven intermediate divisions. The DWSL operates in summer, with games played from May until September.
History
Early seasons
The Dublin Women's Soccer League was founded in 1994 following a merger of the Leinster Ladies' League and the Civil Service League. The inaugural champions were Elm Rovers. Its earliest members included several clubs which had been founded independently of men's clubs. These included Benfica, Rathfarnham United, Castle Rovers, O'Connell Chics and Welsox F.C.. However the latter three subsequently became affiliated to Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne respectively. Castle Rovers were champions in 1995 and 1996 before a St Patrick's Athletic L.F.C. team that included Emma Byrne and Ciara Grant were champions in 1997.
Shamrock Rovers era
During the late 1990s and early 2000s Shamrock Rovers emerged as the DWSL's strongest team. Between 1998 and 2002 they were league champions five times in row. They also won the DWSL Premier Cup on six successive occasions between 1997 and 2002 and the FAI Women's Cup on five successive occasions between 1997 and 2001. This meant that Rovers also won four successive trebles between 1998 and 2001. Rovers leading player during era was Olivia O'Toole.
During the mid-2000s UCD replaced Shamrock Rovers as the DWSL's strongest team. With a team that included Sylvia Gee and Mary Waldron, UCD were league champions four times in a row between 2003 and 2006. They also won the DWSL Premier Cup in 2004, 2005 and the 2007, the FAI Women's Cup three times in a row between 2002 and 2004 and achieved the treble in 2004.
Between 2001 and 2010 several DWSL teams played in the UEFA Women's Cup after winning the FAI Women's Cup. In 2002–03, Shamrock Rovers became the first women's team to represent the Republic of Ireland in Europe. UCD became the second Republic of Ireland team to qualify for Europe after winning the cup. UCD played in the 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 UEFA Women's Cups. Other DWSL teams to play in Europe included St Francis, Peamount United and Dundalk W.F.C.. The latter came about under bizarre circumstances. In 2005 Dundalk City won the FAI Women's Cup and as a result qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Women's Cup. However, in 2006 a split developed within Dundalk City over a plan for the club to fully merge with Dundalk F.C.. This effectively saw the emergence of two separate women's teams. Dundalk City was re-established as an independent club while Dundalk W.F.C. became affiliated with the League of Ireland club. Following complications that resulted from the split, it was Dundalk W.F.C. that went on to represent the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Women's Cup.
WNL and DWSL
When the Women's National League was formed in 2011, three of the six founding members – Peamount United, Raheny United and Shamrock Rovers – were members of the DWSL. All three clubs continued to enter reserve teams in the DWSL once the WNL was established. As the WNL expanded two more teams, UCD and Shelbourne, also switched from the DWSL to the WNL.
The DWSL Premier Cup is the main league cup competition for DWSL clubs. The cup is also known as Pat Breheny Memorial Premier Cup. The cup was first played for in 1997 and Shamrock Rovers subsequently won the competition on six successive occasions. In 2003 Dundalk City became first team apart from Rovers to win the competition.
