CWSSL are set to build the first soccer centre exclusively for girls in Casement Park
(rear left) Denis Behan and (rear right) Derek Coughlan of Coerver Coaching with Brian Murphy, Chairperson, CWSSL, Maria McGrath, treasurer, CWSSL with Saoirse McGrath, Colin Gurhy, Development Officer, CWSSL and Sean Murphy, Sec, CWSSL, at the launch of the new soccer training programme for CWSSL girls at the Casement Celtic pitch at Carrigrohane Road, Co Cork. ECHO Sport. Picture: Larry Cummins
With 2026 on the horizon, so too is the development of Casement Park, and the beginning of phase one of the planned developments that the Cork Women’s and Schoolgirls Soccer League (CWSSL) have put in place for the venue at Carrigrohane Road.
For decades, they’ve been renting, borrowing and travelling from pitch to pitch. Now, after years of planning and persistence, and a huge influx of players, that’s about to change.
“The big thing, is it’s going to be a home for girls' soccer in Cork,” explains CWSSL secretary Sean Murphy. “It will be the first one in Ireland, there's no other county that has a centre for girls.” The story began several years ago when the CWSSL were searching for a permanent base. Casement Celtic were struggling to maintain the site, and Cork City Council suggested that both parties talk.
“They came on board, and said yes, they'd be delighted if we could put whatever we wanted to do here, they’d be involved,” he continues. “Our first phase will be a full-size astro with floodlights,” he says.
“So hope is to go into construction there in 2026. Cost is roughly a million euros for that particular phase. So if we can get that done in 2026, it would be brilliant.
That initial step – a modern, floodlit all-weather surface with warm-up area – will finally give Cork’s girls’ teams a place to train and play on home soil.
“Phase two and phase three, then, we'll probably put a sand-based grass pitch here,” Sean says. “We’ll do our dressing rooms, probably put a cover stand in as well as part of the astro, and meeting rooms and gyms and stuff like that.” By the time the project is complete, the total cost could approach €2 million. But Murphy is clear – phase one is the key. The start line.
“One thing we always said here is that Cork girls, we've no home, we've no focal point. It's a bit like the Cork Camogie, they have their place down in Church Road.
Every year the CWSSL enters eight interleague teams – Cork’s best young players who represent the county in elite competitions. Until now, they’ve trained and played wherever space could be found.
“So now, at least, they'll have their own home to do their own training here, and play their own home matches at their own home pitch,” Murphy says. “These are all against other counties around Ireland, and these are interleague players, or the elite players, who are the next players that are going to be playing with Cork City and Cobh down the road.”
The centre will also be open to others.
“There'll be a commercial element here as well. We won't be using it all the time, so we'll be renting it out as well.
“We're hoping UCC and MTU will use it too. They're always looking for pitches and they're not that far away.
And in the longer term? “Eventually, we'd hope down the road, if we’ve the whole place developed, that we may have an underage international down here. Because the pitch will be big enough, that has to be made sure it's big enough to host an U17, or an U16, U15 international.
Planning permission for the astro and floodlights is already in place. The challenge now is financial.
“We have got some capital grants from the Sports Capital last year,” he explains. “We got a reward of some grants for that, but we're still shy. We still need more money. So the big one always is fundraising, with any club. Fundraising is always the big difficult one. But we'll get there.
CWSSL chairperson Brian Murphy echoes that optimism.
“We're hoping the more coverage and when people see it, that there'll be more people come on board and help us as well too,” Brian remarks.
He points out the practical impact just as much as the symbolic one.
“On the other side, we’ve our cup finals, we've tried to go to MTU or down to Cobh or whatever. We'll have our own home and we can have our cup finals here. And actually, it's a great venue.”
That level of stability will change everything.
“Everyone will know more about it when the CWSSL cup finals are on. We have some on pre-Christmas, and in the summertime. It's always very hard to get pitches as well too for them. So having our own one, we can put timetables out earlier on. And people know with holidays and everything as well too.
“So small things like that will make a huge difference as well. And other teams, obviously, struggle with pitches during the winter. If there's a backlog of matches, the clubs can use this as well too.
“So having it here, they’ll come if it's here. If you build it, they will come. There's no doubt about that. Because it's growing massively, girls soccer, in Cork and Ireland.”
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