Cork City Women's manager Danny Murphy signs new deal

Cork City FC Women's manager Danny Murphy has signed a new two-year contract.

The deal with keep the coach at the club until the end of the 2026 Women’s Premier Division season.

Murphy was originally appointed in May 2022 after working with Welling United as their Head of Academy, and City finished that year with memorable victories over Galway WFC and Sligo Rovers.

2023 was his first full season in the dugout and it was a mixed campaign for the coach and his players. They started out with a heavy loss to reigning league champions Shelbourne at Tolka Park and that was followed by a long string of defeats.

Things turned around during the summer as City went on a run in the Avenir Sports All-Island Cup. Murphy’s players topped their group by defeating DLR Waves, Treaty United, and Crusaders in Belfast. 

Their reward was a semi-final tie with a quadruple-chasing Cliftonville team filled with senior Northern Ireland internationals and they narrowly lost at Solitude.

City returned to action domestically and reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s FAI Cup, where they lost to Shamrock Rovers at Bishopstown.

The Rebel Army used that season to bring through a number of players emerging from their academy.  Amongst those were Erin and Ellie O’Brien, Niamh Cotter, and Clodagh Fitzgerald and they became important in the first team this year under Murphy in the Women’s Premier Division.

City focused on themselves last winter and addressed key issues like a natural goal-scorer. Colleen Kennedy O’Connell filled that hole by scoring with seven goals in 22 games. 

They also brought in goalkeeper Una Foyle, who played football at underage level in New Zealand, and that added much-needed experience.

This group of players showed their progress by reaching the Women’s FAI Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2020.

They got that far by defeating Douglas Hall and Bohemians, and lost to a double-chasing Shelbourne team at Tolka Park.

Murphy is keen to build on the foundations laid over the last two seasons while making sure there is a clear link with the club’s academy as players are regularly called up for matches in the league and Women’s FAI Cup.

The coach also oversaw the development of Eva Mangan, who became a senior Republic of Ireland international this summer. The midfielder was called up by Eileen Gleeson and Colin Healy last May for a double-header of Euro 2025 qualifiers against Sweden and the Ballygarvan native retained her place in the group for fixtures with England and France.

Murphy and his group will be planning for the future knowing that they could be losing Mangan to Liverpool, as she was recently on trial with the WSL giants and there is talk about a permanent move in the winter.