Cork City’s first season in 2014/’15 ended at the bottom too, with zero wins in 18, while Kilkenny United’s first the following year finished with a single point from 12 games.

Shamrock Rovers are aiming to be the exception.

The Tallaght-based side are back in the top flight this season after a nine-year absence. Rovers managed four wins from 21 games in their final season before withdrawing from the league, but with Ireland internationals littered throughout their new squad, they are out to prove themselves in 2023.

Collie O’Neill was announced as head coach last October and he has made no secret of his desire to change the women’s game in Ireland.

With the high standards of training facilities, strength and conditioning and medical resources available at the club, O’Neill hopes his new side can mirror the success Stephen Bradley’s men’s side have achieved in recent years.

“It is Shamrock Rovers, the standards are really high here,” says O’Neill, as his side begin the 2023 campaign away to Sligo Rovers on Saturday.

“Things like the extra sessions and the high-performance gym, it’s a higher level than a lot of these players were used to in previous years. There has been a lot of good work done by other clubs recently. We’re just trying to bring it up to an almost professional model in the near future.

“We’re trying to play a complete, possession-based style of football, which many players would not have played before. We want to raise the standards, and that’s one way to get as many people into Tallaght Stadium as possible.”

O’Neill admits he didn’t need much convincing when the opportunity to take the reins came up last year.

As well as guiding UCD to the 2018 First Division title, the Dubliner has also coached at Shelbourne and Dundalk. Although putting a squad together has been more challenging than he expected, O’Neill insists it was an offer he couldn’t turn down.

“In your life, it’s not often you get the opportunity to start something from the ground up,” O’Neill adds.

“It’s a brand new challenge. It’s the unknown. You could do it at one level but can you do it at another level, with a whole new bunch of people? It was the chance to build something in whatever style you wanted.

“It has been a lot of hard work, much more than I probably would’ve anticipated. It’s been exciting and challenging though, and we will see the fruits of what’s been done at some stage.”

The Dublin 24 club have turned many heads over the off-season, having attracted some of the league’s biggest names from the likes of Peamount United and back-to-back champions Shelbourne.

Ireland strike pair Áine O’Gorman and Stephanie Roche are on board, as are former Shels trio Abbie Larkin, Amanda Budden and Jess Gargan, and O’Neill makes no apologies for Rovers’ business over the winter months.

“It doesn’t bother me at all, it’s all part of the fun,” he says, on those who have criticised their recruitment process.

“It’s a one-off too. Normally at the end of a season you are trying to sign two, maybe three players. So if you have to sign a squad of 20 players you’re going to upset some other managers. It’s just part and parcel of it.

“Áine and Stephanie have been a vital part of it with the experience and reputation they have. They are real leaders and everything I’ve been looking for. They’re two that need zero management whatsoever.

“When you take the experienced ones out of it, the average age is still very young. It’s about trying to build for today, but also having one eye towards tomorrow to make sure we have a good, sustainable model going forward.”

The likes of O’Gorman and Larkin will be vying for a place on the plane to Australia when Ireland feature in their first World Cup later this summer.

O’Neill believes Vera Pauw’s side will have an impact that will not only benefit the domestic league but the entire game in Ireland.

“It’s been many, many years since Ireland had a team at a World Cup,” O’Neill added.

“The strides that are going to be made off the back of it will be huge. It’s not going to just affect women’s football, but football totally across the country.

“My kids are involved in our local club, and the coaches say there were only two girls’ teams a few years ago, then four and now eight. It’s amazing to see the growth.”

As the 2023 campaign kicks off this weekend, O’Neill insists his focus is on development rather than silverware this term.

“The league title is not our target,” he says. “With a brand new side, it’ll take us a couple of months to get up and running. We’re more looking towards next year and will hopefully be in the mix for the league title then – 2023 is about being as competitive as possible and to grow in the direction we want to go in the future.”

Will the club’s first season back in the top flight develop into a Roy of the Rovers story? We’re about to find out.