Athlone Town women to play ŽFK Skopje in Champions League

Athlone Town will play North Macedonia club ŽFK Skopje 2014 in the Women's Champions League first qualifying round.

The first and second qualifying rounds of the Women's Champions League are played in the form of mini-tournaments with semi-finals, a final and a third-place match, all single-leg ties, hosted by one of the participating clubs.

Athlone Town and their North Macedonia opponents will meet in one semi-final, while Czarni of Poland and Georgia team WFC Nike play in the second semi-final at this initial stage of the competition.

The mini tournament semi-final fixtures will be played on Wednesday, July 22 with the final/third-place play-off games taking place on Saturday, July 25.

Under the guidance of newly appointed women's first team head coach Lily Agg, Athlone Town return to Champions League action following their first taste of European action last year.

The 2025 Premier Division and FAI Cup winners defeated Cardiff City and Croatian club ZNK Agram in the first qualifying round of the competition at the Athlone Town Stadium.

They then travelled to the Netherlands for the second mini tournament stage of the competition where they were defeated by Breidablik of Iceland.

However, a 2-0 win over Red Star Belgrade saw Athlone Town qualify for the first qualifying round of the Europa Cup where defeat, over two legs, to Glasgow City ended their European adventure.