Player of the year Fiona Donnelly and captain Catherine Cronin among 13 to re-sign with DLR Waves as Aimee Maher and Erica Turner depart for the US
Fiona Donnelly, pictured during the 3-0 win over Treaty United that sealed sixth, was voted the club's player of the year by her teammates. Credit: Steve Alfred (ETPhotos)
Club player of the year Fiona Donnelly is among 13 players to sign back with DLR Waves for the 2021 season as Graham Kelly moved quickly to nail down the bulk of his squad.
Captain Catherine Cronin and Republic of Ireland internationals Eve Badana and Niamh Prior are among the others to put pen to paper for the coming season.
Midfielder Aimee Maher will depart to take up a football scholarship in the United States, however, while goalkeeper Erica Turner will also return stateside for her second year of college.
Waves maintained their sixth-placed finish from 2019, topping the post-split bottom tier following a shortened 11-game calendar due to the Covid-19 shutdown.
Two draws and a win from their post-split games saw them finish level on ten points with Athlone Town, but they managed to take sixth place by virtue of their superior goal difference.
And Kelly wasted little time in ensuring the top performers from last season agreed to stay on for the new campaign.
Badana, who kept four clean sheets in nine league appearances, signs back alongside defenders Prior, Katie Burdis and Oleta Griffin.
Midfielders Donnelly, Avril Brierley, Ciara Maher, Nadine Clare, Caroline Healy and Rachel Doyle also return, as do strikers Cronin, Katie Malone and Carla McManus.
