The Newry native arrives at Taylors Avenue having been at the forefront of youth football development in South Armagh for more than 20 years, where she played a key role in the establishment and development of Camlough Rovers FC. Mooney became the first female to manage in the Men’s Intermediate League, before most recently, taking charge of the Women’s First Team in the NIWFA Barclays Championship.
A UEFA A license coach, Mooney has experience coaching at all age groups, both within Northern Ireland and around the world. Having set up Fiona Mooney Coaching, she has established a reputation for developing young players, both male and female, with 5 past students now playing weekly in the Sports Direct Premiership.
Majority Shareholder Michael Smith commented,
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Fiona Mooney to Carrick Rangers Falcons at this pivotal moment in our history. Fiona’s remarkable track record - taking a side from the very bottom of the pyramid to the NIWFA Championship, while building a gold-standard academy, perfectly mirrors the trajectory we have set for this club.
Her arrival is a powerful reinforcement of our significant investment in the women’s game and our unwavering commitment to providing elite opportunities for girls and women across Northern Ireland. We aren't just here to compete; our ambition is to build the premier women’s program in the country.
With Fiona’s leadership and our dedicated resources, we are confident in our roadmap to reach the Women’s Premiership and, ultimately, to bring Women's Champions League football to Carrick Rangers. This is a new era for the club, and we couldn't have a better architect at the helm to turn our vision into reality.”
Falcons boss Fiona Mooney added,
“I'm very excited to get started and looking forward to the new project. The team has just been promoted to Division 1, so I'm eager to get involved with that project and help take the Club from hopefully Championship and then the Premiership.
I've been watching Carrick Rangers over the last number of years now, both on and off the pitch, across the women’s and the men's teams and have seen the new investment and the Clubs plans for the future.
I’ve seen how quickly the Women’s teams have progressed and with the vision that the Club has to go beyond Division 1, into the Championship, the Premiership and hopefully then into Europe. That's a very, very exciting project to get involved in.”
Welcome to Carrick Rangers, Fiona!
