'You can't be considered a top club without a team in the WNL' - Lisa Fallon

Given the ultra dramatic way last season's Women's National League concluded, there is added anticipation about what 2022 will bring.

On Saturday, champions Shelbourne, Peamount United, Wexford Youths and the other contenders kick off the new season.

And joining the party this time are Sligo Rovers whose presence turns the division into a 10-team competition after two seasons where the nine-club structure necessitated occasional bye weeks for the pre-existing sides.

Sligo's arrival also means they join Shelbourne, Cork City, Wexford, Bohemians, Treaty United and Athlone Town in having an equivalent in both men's and women's senior leagues.

But coach and RTÉ Soccer analyst Lisa Fallon is hoping more entities follow in the Bit o' Red's footsteps by establishing senior women's teams.

"It's absolutely fantastic to see that Sligo Rovers have a team," she told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"I think you can't be considered a top club in this country if you do not have a women's team in the Women's National League.

Watch Lisa Fallon's full 2022 WNL preview right here:

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"But I think we have to be serious. If we are serious about football in this country, every top League of Ireland club must have a senior women's team and we have to start to look at even making it semi-professional at the start and then using that as the foothold.

"But the men's and women's teams should be a singular entity within each club and not, 'they're part of us but they're not really'. We have to get away from that because the