A new season begins for Bohemians this Saturday evening (5pm) as they travel to Greenogue Park to face Peamount United in the opening round of the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division, writes Gary O’Connor.
It marks the beginning of a new era for the club under manager Alan Murphy who steps into the role after previously serving as assistant to Ken Kiernan and Alban Hysa during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Murphy’s appointment brings continuity and familiarity to the dugout. Having worked closely with the squad over the past two seasons, he arrives into the role with a deep understanding of the group and the environment around the team. For Murphy, the early weeks in charge have been both demanding and rewarding.
“Yeah it’s been good, obviously a lot of familiarity there with the girls and the group in general, it’s been busy but exciting and just looking forward to getting going on Saturday,” he said. “Pre-season has been long we’ve been in since the start of January so I’m just really looking forward to getting the proper games going where we can get rhythm and a bit of routine with the girls.”
Bohemians’ preparation for the new campaign has been extensive, with the squad returning to training in early January and completing five pre-season fixtures as they built towards the league opener. Results have been mixed but encouraging overall, with draws against Shamrock Rovers and Treaty United, victories over Cliftonville and Waterford and a defeat to Galway United.
Murphy believes the work carried out during those games and throughout training has laid a strong foundation heading into the competitive season.
“It’s been good, they’ve all worked really hard, they’ve all got minutes, we’ve obviously had to manage injuries along the way as well but I think from a fitness point of view, we are comfortable with where they are,” he explained. “In terms of how they’ve bought into the ideas, they’ve done really well in the games, there’s been really good examples of how we want to play, that high intensity, try to create goal scoring opportunities but the work rate above all has been fantastic, it’s probably the one thing that has stood out over pre-season, the amount of work the girls have gone through on the pitch has been amazing.”
A key positive for Bohemians heading into the new campaign is the continuity within the squad. Sixteen players from last season’s group have been retained, ensuring that much of the team’s core remains intact. That stability, Murphy believes, is vital for a club that prides itself on developing and maintaining a strong collective identity.
“It’s huge, we’re probably not going to compete in terms of offerings that other clubs give out so when we have the quality that we have, the big thing is always retaining the players,” he said. “I think it’s about 90% that we’ve retained from last year, so it’s really positive and it just shows what we are doing as a club the girls are buying into it and they see value in it so that was the most important thing, we’ve obviously added girls in as well but the most important thing was the majority of the girls stayed so we had that solid base.”
While the core of the squad remains familiar, Bohemians have also strengthened with five new additions during the off-season. Ciara Maher arrives from Wexford, while Aoife Brophy and Sophie Clarke make the move from Shamrock Rovers. The squad has also been boosted by the arrivals of Eimear Lafferty from Sligo Rovers, Aoife Sheridan from Shelbourne and Kate Foley from Newbridge Town.
Murphy is pleased with how the new players have settled into the group, particularly given that several are already familiar with the club environment.
“Three of the six have already been at the club before so in that sense we knew what we are getting from them and they know how the club runs so that makes that little integration easier and they’ve added massive amounts in different ways,” he said. “Some of them are obviously a little bit older, some of them a little bit younger, so the older ones are bringing that little bit of experience and the young ones are bringing a lot of energy as well, so we are delighted with where we are.”
Beyond personnel, Murphy is keen to establish a clear identity for his side in the coming months. Effort, unity and attacking intent are central to the approach he wants supporters to see when the team takes the pitch.
“I think a lot of the stuff we have been talking about is honesty of effort and again from the staff point of view that’s all we want, we want them to put their best foot forward,” he said. “I think what the fans will see is just an awful lot of quality first of all, but quality backed up by a huge amount of effort and a team ethic, that will be a key part of what we are trying to do this year, is just making sure that everyone sticks together and they work hard so that everyone watching them can see the effort that has gone in, not just from the quality point of view but from pure hard work and a desire to win games.”
The opening fixture brings Bohemians back to familiar surroundings. Their final league game of last season also came away to Peamount United, producing a dramatic 3–3 draw that saw Bohs fight back from 3-1 down. The highlight of that contest came when Hannah O’Brien scored an audacious bicycle kick to earn a point.
Murphy expects another difficult test this weekend, particularly given Peamount’s reputation as one of the league’s most competitive sides.
“It’s always a tough game regardless of where they may be in the table or whatever time of the year you get them but I mean getting the first game out there is particularly tough,” he said. “Ironically our last league game was out there last season, so I suppose it’s just a quirk of the fixture list but we will be going there with confidence and ideally picking up 3 points to kick-start our season.”
Getting off to a strong start is something the manager views as crucial. Bohemians struggled to build early momentum last year, something Murphy is determined to address in 2026.
“I think last year we didn’t get a good start and in the end I think our league position was dictated by how we started, with a better start we may have finished a few places higher, so it’s really important we get off to a good start,” he said. “Not only does it build momentum but it builds confidence with the girls too.”
Team news
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