Special Report: Bohemian FC Women's Squad - Making Giant Strides

If there was an award for ‘Most Entertaining Team of The Year’ in the Women’s League of Ireland Premier Division 2025, it would surely go to Dublin’s Bohemian FC (‘Bohs’).

For one, their All-Island Cup semi-final against their Drumcondra neighbours, Shelbourne, will go down in the annals of women’s football in Ireland as an epic. Already an entertaining game, with 15 minutes remaining Shelbourne were 2-1 ahead. Then the game caught fire. Under severe pressure from Bohs, Shelbourne received two red cards in the space of a minute. It still took a penalty, awarded in the eighth minute of injury time, for Bohs to make it 2-2.

It went straight to penalties. With a record crowd for Bohs women of almost 1,400 in historic Dalymount Park, the drama built with each successive penalty score, miss and save. For Bohemians – never having reached a final or won a trophy – the tension was unbearable. Wild celebrations followed their 6-5 victory.

If people are looking for a defining moment when Bohs women found their groove, this was was almost certainly it.

“What a freakin’ semi final that was!” Bohs Manager, Alban Hysa recalls. “It was a rollercoaster of red cards and penos and goals in front of a record crowd for us! No-one could have scripted it!”

In April, Bohs had been beaten 7-2 by Shelbourne. In May, they drew 1-1 in their All-Island Cup group stage match. The tide turned fully when Bohs beat Shels 3-1 in Tolka Park in July, exploiting the absence that day of Shels playmaking defensive midfielder Alex Kavanagh. Two weeks later, few people expected lightning to strike twice.

“The first win over Shels, in Tolka Park, was special in that we had never beaten them,” explains Bohs centre-half, Roisin McGovern. “We knew we were playing well. We went out with the mentality that we’d give it our best shot. We had something to prove after losing 7-2 earlier in the season. We put three goals past them!

“The All-Island Cup semi-final match at Dalymount came soon after that. Okay, we didn’t win in the style we’d have liked, going to penalties and all that, but we got the win!”

The irony was that Bohs had seven former Shels youth players in their squad: goalkeeper and captain, Rachael Kelly, who joined from Shels in 2022; Savannah Kane (18) and Emma Gaughran (17), who arrived in 2024; and Hannah Healy (18), Katie McCarn (20), Hannah O’Brien (18) and Aoibhne Brennan (18), all newcomers in 2025.

The wisdom of Shelbourne allowing such talented young players to leave because of insufficient game time will surely be the subject of heated debate in Tolka Park.

Katie McCarn, in particular, has been a revelation, scoring some classy goals this season, while central midfielder Hannah Healy – who has represented Ireland at Under 16, U17 and U19 levels – has been sensational as a playmaker in the Alex Kavanagh mould.

Hannah Healy

“The move from Shels to Bohs was about getting as much game time as I could,” Hannah explains. “It was also about developing as a player at senior level. Having players around you that have faith in you boosts your confidence. I was so young (15) when I first came into the senior squad at Shels. At Bohs, we have a young squad but the more experienced players are so helpful. I was playing out of position as a Number 6 recently and Fiona Donnelly, Lisa Murphy and Rachael Kelly talked me through the match, giving advice.”

CROWDPLEASING MC

Once a DLR/UCD Waves underage player, Roisin McGovern joined Bohs this season after a spell studying in the US and playing for teams like Tormenta in Georgia and Asheville City in North Carolina. She, too, has played for Ireland at U17 and U19 levels, where she got to know current Bohs keeper and captain, Rachael Kelly.

“It took time for Lisa Murphy and myself to adjust in defence, as we had never played together before,” McGovern admits, “but now we know our strengths, our weaknesses. We work well together, and we don’t scream at each other! We talk, but it’s always positive.”

Injuries have taken a toll. Talented striker Katie Malone suffered a fractured fibula in training in the spring and spent several months on the sidelines. Having stepped into the breach with some top notch goals, Katie McCarn suffered a significant injury in July.

“There seems to be a really good, shared belief in the squad this year,” says Katie Malone. “Alban has us playing a really nice style of football. It’s hugely frustrating being injured for that length of time, but it also gave me a chance to see how different players think and play, so it was not time wasted.”

Malone, it should be remembered, scored the only goal in Bohs’ 2-1 loss to the Palestine national team in their friendly match at Dalymount last year.

Players celebrate at the match between the Palestine women's national team and Bohemian women, May 15th, 2024. Copyright Hannah Bocian.

“It was unbelievable, I’ve never been so excited for a game in life,” Katie explains. “It was a great occasion. You could see just how grateful the Palestine team were, and everyone was able to forget the terrible things that are happening there for a few hours. They were lovely people, but it was a competitive game and you could tell they really wanted to win it. They could play football, alright.”

Bohs are one of Ireland’s best supported women’s teams, with attendances regularly around the 500 mark, even for a recent Tuesday night match against Peamount. And the club is progressive too. With Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert in the CEO role, they have aligned with the campaign against genocide in Gaza, hooked up with Fontaines D.C. for a T-shirt and generally built a sense of inclusiveness.

Key to the lively and inclusive atmosphere at these matches is the crowd-pleasing MC, Dee Duignan. Do the players pick up on that atmosphere during games?

“Definitely,” says Katie Malone. “The crowd increasing is at least partly down to the work that the community officers do here, visiting schools and so on, promoting Bohs, giving out tickets for kids – and the players also visit schools during the year doing five-a-sides, and so on.

“We also sign autographs for the kids on notepads or on jerseys. I had one kid who followed me into the toilet because she wanted me to sign her Croc (shoe)! It was great, too, winning that semi-final against Shels before a record crowd, and that it was such a good, entertaining game. People want to come back and see more of that!”

MOMENTS OF PANIC

The crowds also come to see a winning side: Bohs had an impressive eight-week unbeaten run during the summer, including seven wins on the trot, while playing attractive and entertaining attacking football.

After the drama of that epic semi-final against Shelbourne, Bohs drew their All-Island Cup final against Wexford FC 1-1, before losing out on penalties.

They fared better in the FAI cup semi-final, however, beating Treaty United 2-0. They will now face the vastly experienced Athlone Town in the final. Manager Alban Hysa and his coaching team are clearly doing something right.

FAI Cup Semi Final - Bohs v Treaty United

“I didn’t know any of them before I joined,” Roisin McGovern says, “but they’ve exceeded my expectations. It took us a while to adjust to the new manager’s tactics, playing out from the back, but everyone knows their job now. We’ll also know the other team’s strengths and weaknesses. Even at half-time, he’ll re-establish what we need to do to win the game.”

Born in Tirana, Albania, Alban Hysa arrived in Ireland 25 years ago. He was Peamount United’s Under 19s coach before taking the reins as Treaty United’s first women’s team manager during their debut season.

“After Peamount, I was planning to go to Wexford Youth’s FC to assist Stephen Quinn,” he explains, “but the Treaty job came up and I told Stephen I’d like to give it a go as manager. I was asked by the club board at the time to, ‘Please stop them shipping so many goals because we can’t get any sponsorship!’ I remember the first game of the season we lost 1-0 to Bohemians, due to a penalty – which should not have been a penalty! At the end of the game, members of the board were congratulating me and I’m going, ‘Eh, but we lost!’ But in their minds, the team wasn’t beaten by five or more goals!

“I’d arrived in December 2022,” he adds, “and there were only about five or six players at training, and I remember thinking, ‘What have I done?’ I’d just won the cup with Peamount U19s so I was questioning myself. But we got a decent Treaty side together and all the stats were much better.

“We made good progress and I’m delighted they’ve kicked on from there now and are doing so well this season. I just couldn’t manage the long commutes after work from Dublin, twice a week, but I gave the club time to find somebody to replace me. With new investment now, they’ve done really well.”

Alban Hysa

The positive start that Hysa gave Treaty women has been repeated at Bohs. Last year, for instance, there was an obvious lack of confidence among the players. This year, even the youngest are taking an extra few seconds to find the right pass, shield the ball, and/or have the presence of mind to foresee the development of a promising move or attack.

“It’s a huge thing,” Hysa confirms. “The moment you are confident on the ball, it’s harder for the other team to get the ball off you. Okay, moments of panic will happen, but we’ve brought in players and there is a lot of quality in this team now. It’s about building. If we can give our young players time, Bohs will be competing regularly at the top end of competitions.”

ELEMENTS OF MAGIC

Katie Malone is in the perfect position to judge the impact of the new approach.

“In the past there were a lot of long balls and I had to chase them!” she laughs. “There was still a bit of that at the start of this season, but it developed during training, with players moving the ball about more and keeping the opposition moving as well to create spaces . That game where Alex Kavanagh was missing for Shels, our midfield ran the show. Our three girls in midfield have been unbelievable.”

Bohs’ previous defensive ‘fragility’ has been rectified with a new willingness to ‘get stuck in’ this season. It has made a huge difference.

“In terms of getting stuck in more,” Katie Malone says, “when we lost 7-2 to Shels, we learned a lot and it brought a new mentality to our players. Lisa Murphy and Roisin McGovern have been immense in the centre of defence, and the other players have fed off that as well.”

Katie Malone

Some of the younger Bohs players may have a bit to go in terms of physical development. But even against big sides like Athlone Town, you can discern a measurable improvement. They drew in August, suggesting that the FAI Cup Final will be a suitably intriguing finale to the senior women’s football season.

“We are working very hard,” Alban Hysa states. “I think winning against more experienced, more physical sides, like Shelbourne, and the draw against Athlone, gives our younger players, especially, the confidence that they can go and beat anyone.”

They may not be title contenders yet, but Bohemians women are making giant strides. Their journey is often wildly entertaining with elements of magic and, sometimes, just a little mayhem, making for an enthralling spectacle.

My guess? The Bohemians women’s team will be shakin’ some action in the Women’s League of Ireland next year. Remember where you read it first!

• The FAI Cup final between Athlone Town and Bohemians FC takes place in Tallaght Stadium on October 19.