title: 2015–16 Women's National League (Ireland)
text: # 2015–16 Women's National League (Ireland)
  
  The 2015–16 Women's National League was the fifth season of the Women's National League. Two new clubs joined the league before the start of the season, restoring the number of teams in the league to eight. Kilkenny United were formed as expansion team while Raheny United's senior women's team merged with Shelbourne Ladies. This effectively saw Shelbourne Ladies takeover Raheny United's place in the WNL. The season also saw the introduction of the WNL Shield. Wexford Youths and Shelbourne Ladies finished the season as the league's two strongest teams. In the league itself, the two teams finished level on points before Wexford Youths retained the title after a play-off. Wexford Youths also completed a treble, having already won both the FAI Women's Cup and WNL Shield. Shelbourne Ladies were also runners up in the WNL Shield before going onto win the WNL Cup. Before the season was finished Castlebar Celtic withdrew because they were unable to field a team.
  
  ## WNL Shield
  
  The season began with the inaugural WNL Shield which saw the eight teams divided into two regional groups, one featuring northern teams and another featuring mostly southern teams. UCD Waves played in Group A along with the southern teams, Cork City, Kilkenny United and Wexford Youths. The other four northern teams, Castlebar Celtic, Galway W.F.C., Peamount United and Shelbourne Ladies played in Group B. The group stages began on 5 September and were completed by 4 October, before the regular season began. The format saw the four teams play each other once with the two group winners meeting in the final. In a sign of things to come, Castlebar Celtic failed to field a team against Shelbourne Ladies in their group game. Wexford Youths booked their place in the final with a 5–0 victory over Cork City. In the final, played at Ferrycarrig Park on 30 March 2016, Wexford Youths defeated Shelbourne Ladies 1–0 with Edel Kennedy scoring the winner.
  
  ### Group A
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Wexford Youths | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 9 | Final |
  | 2 | UCD Waves | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 6 | |
  | 3 | Cork City | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 3 | |
  | 4 | Kilkenny United | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 | |
  
  ### Group B
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Shelbourne Ladies | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Final |
  | 2 | Galway W.F.C. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 5 | |
  | 3 | Peamount United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 4 | |
  | 4 | Castlebar Celtic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 0 | |
  