Preview | Athlone Town v Cardiff City – UEFA Women’s Champions League
Athlone Town will make their European debut in senior women’s football when they host Cardiff City in their UEFA Women’s Champions League First Qualifying Round tie on Wednesday evening.
The SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division champions will have home advantage for the visit of their Welsh counterparts in what will be the first set of games in a reformatted UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Having undergone a restructure, the old 16-team group stage that kicked off the competition has been replaced by an 18-club league phase, which will see three rounds of qualifying – beginning with the First Qualifying Round as part of the Champions Path.
Athlone Town were paired with Cardiff City in Group 5 and the winner of their game will take on Croatian side ZNK Agram on Saturday, August 2nd in Athlone Town Stadium. The Group winners will then advance to the Second Qualifying Round.
Athlone Town forward Maddison Gibson feels the atmosphere building up to this game – with over 1,000 tickets sold – is fuelling the excitement of what is a huge fixture for the club.
“We’re excited. We worked really hard last season to get here and the girls that are new who have come in this season have bought into everything that we’re planning for this and have really put in all their effort. There is a buzz around the town, so we’re excited to get going,” said Gibson.
“We know that they (Cardiff) are a good side and we have to respect them, so we have to be at our best and play our best football. It’s not going to be easy, we know that.
“We’re confident. We have many goalscorers. We have one of the top goalscorers in the league with Kelly (Brady), we have Roisin (Molloy) who always gets a lot of assists every year but we also have a lot of young players who can come in and score as well. So we’re kind of rich all over the pitch and anyone can score on their day, which is good to have in a team.
“We’re excited that this is the first time that the club is hosting in 42 years and the first time hosting for women, so we’re excited about that and we’re excited to represent the club, represent the league and hopefully make them proud.”
Athlone Town will become the fifth club to represent the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division in European competition following on from Peamount United, Raheny United, Wexford and Shelbourne.
Cardiff City – who have won the Adran Premier League for the last three seasons in a row – will have recent memories on taking on Irish opposition as they lost to Shelbourne in a Third-Place Play-Off in their UEFA Women’s Champions League Qualifier in September 2023.
The game will be available to watch live for free on LOITV, but fans are encouraged to be part of a historic night for Athlone Town. Tickets can be secured online via www.athlonetownafc.ie/uwcl
