Women's Team

Barry Ryan Joins WPD Management Team

Barry Ryan Joins WPD Management Team

Cork City FC are delighted to announce the appointment of Barry Ryan to the management team of our Women’s Premier Division side.

The Tipperary native joined the club ahead of the 2025 season as manager of our Women’s Under 19 side, and steered them to a league quarter-final in his first season in charge. The season also saw several players make the step up from the Under 19 side into the senior team.

Commenting on his appointment, Ryan said: “I would like to express my gratitude to Dermot for giving me the opportunity, and also a huge thanks to the Under 19 staff and players as well, because I would not have got the opportunity if it had not been for their application throughout the last year. We had a really positive season, and that has given me the opportunity to take on this role.”

“I am really excited by the challenge that lies ahead. My values are completely aligned with the club, in terms of developing young players, allowing them to grow organically and transition into senior players. We will base our team off players who have come through our academy and I think that model is really important because it is the best fit for Cork City FC. That being said, I feel really strongly that having a young squad is not an excuse for not winning games; I believe we can be really competitive and get results by doing things this way.” 

“I want our team to connect with the support base and the wider public in Cork. People in Cork have certain values they like to see in their teams, and I think it is really important that we buy into that. People want to see players who will get them up off their seats. When I think of Cork sporting greats like Denise O’Sullivan, Roy Keane, Sonia O’Sullivan, Jimmy Barry-Murphy…. I think of players who can excite people and also have a bit of class about them, but that is grounded in honesty and integrity and a desire to work, and I think people will get behind us if they see that in the players. I think this can be the start of something exciting and I am very much looking forward to it.”

Commenting on the appointment, Cork City owner, Dermot Usher, said: “We have been really impressed with Barry’s approach to things since he came into the club ahead of this season. He has a long track record in developing and bringing through young players and, with the talent that we have coming through our academy teams, he is ideally placed to nurture that talent and help them progress to achieve their potential.”

“We have many extremely talented young players at the club, several of whom have already made first team appearances this year, despite their young age. We have had ongoing internal discussions over the last number of months about the future vision for our women’s teams, and Barry’s thinking is very much aligned with ours in that respect.”

“Since we first discussed the role with him, we have been very impressed, not just by his plans, but also by his passion, his energy and his determination, and we feel he is the ideal candidate to take the role on and bring us forward.”

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