Northern Ireland national netball team
National netball team
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The Northern Ireland national netball team, referred to as the Northern Ireland Warriors, represents Netball Northern Ireland in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games and the Netball Europe Open Championships. Northern Ireland have won the 2009 and 2015 Netball Singapore Nations Cups. As of 1 December 2025, Northern Ireland are listed 14th on the World Netball Rankings.
| Nickname(s) | Warriors | |
|---|---|---|
| Association | Netball Northern Ireland | |
| Confederation | Europe Netball | |
| Head coach | Sheonah Forbes | |
| Asst coach | Shaunagh Craig | |
| Manager | Laura Lovett | |
| Captain | Michelle Magee | |
| Vice-captain | Caroline O'Hanlon | |
| World ranking | 14th[1] | |
| ||
| Netball World Cup | ||
| Appearances | 12 (Debuted in 1963) | |
| 2019 placing | 10th | |
| Best result | 7th (1983) | |
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| Appearances | 3 (Debuted in 2014) | |
| 2022 placing | 10th | |
| Best result | 7th (2014) | |
Early tests
The Northern Ireland national netball team has been active since the early 1950s. On 12 May 1951, when Scotland hosted their first home international, they defeated Northern Ireland 21–7 in Glasgow. Northern Ireland shooter, Peggy Curran, injured her ligaments in the first five minutes of the match and had to be flown home. On 31 October 1953, Northern Ireland hosted Scotland for the first time, losing 19–10. During the 1950s, Northern Ireland played Scotland six times.[2][3] In 1954, Northern Ireland played England for the first time.[4]
Tournament history
Major tournaments
Netball World Cup
Northern Ireland played in the inaugural 1963 World Netball Championships and finished in 11th place. Their best performance in the tournament came in 1983 when they finished seventh. In 2019 Northern Ireland played in their twelfth Netball World Cup.[5][6][7][8]
Commonwealth Games
In 2014, Northern Ireland made their debut at the Commonwealth Games.[24] As part of their preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Northern Ireland formed a partnership with Team Northumbria. This saw seven Northern Ireland internationals – Oonagh McCullough, Fionnuala Toner, Caroline O'Hanlon, Gemma Gibney, Michelle Drayne, Noleen Lennon and Niamh Cooper – play for Team Northumbria during the 2014 Netball Superleague season. With Kate Carpenter taking charge of both teams, Northern Ireland and Team Northumbria also shared a coach.[25][26][27] In the tournament itself, they eventually finished seventh after defeating Wales by 58–36 in a classification match.[28] Northern Ireland made their second appearance at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.[24] Team captain, Caroline O'Hanlon, carried the flag of Northern Ireland during the 2018 Commonwealth Games Parade of Nations.[29][30] Northern Ireland eventually finished eighth after losing to Malawi by 60–52 in a classification match.[31]
World Games
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 1985 World Games[39][40] | 6th |
World University Netball Championship
Northern Ireland represented the Colleges and Universities Sports Association of Ireland at the 2012 World University Netball Championship. It was initially planned that Ireland would send an All-Ireland team, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However no players from the Republic were selected for the final squad. As a result, it was a Northern Ireland team, in effect, that competed in the tournament.[41][42][43][44][45][46]
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 2012 World University Netball Championship[47][48][49] | 4th |
European tournaments
Netball World Cup Qualifiers
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 2007 World Netball Championships Qualifier – Europe[50] | 3rd |
| 2011 World Netball Championships Qualifier – Europe[51][52] | 1st |
| 2014 Netball Europe Open Championships[53][54][55] | 3rd |
| 2019 Netball World Cup Regional Qualifier – Europe[56][57] | 2nd |
| 2023 Netball World Cup Regional Qualifier – Europe[58] | 3rd |
Source:[59]
Netball Europe Open Championships
Northern Ireland have played regularly in the Netball Europe Open Championships. Their best performances came in 2012 and 2017 when they finished second and won silver medals on both occasions.[60][61][62][63]
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 1998 FENA Open[64] | |
| 1999 FENA Open[65] | |
| 2000 FENA Open[66] | |
| 2001 FENA Open | |
| 2002 FENA Open | |
| 2003 FENA Open | |
| 2004 FENA Open | |
| 2005 FENA Open[67][68] | |
| 2006 FENA Open[69] | |
| 2007 FENA Open[70] | 4th |
| 2008 FENA Open[71] | 3rd |
| 2009 Netball Europe Open Championships[72][73] | 3rd |
| 2010 Netball Europe Open Championships[74] | 4th |
| 2011 Netball Europe Open Championships[75][76] | 3rd |
| 2012 Netball Europe Open Championships[60][61][77] | 2th |
| 2013 Netball Europe Open Championships[78] | 3rd |
| 2014 Netball Europe Open Championships[53][54][55] | 3rd |
| 2015 Netball Europe Open Championships[79][80][81] | 4th |
| 2016 Netball Europe Open Championships[82][83][84] | 4th |
| 2017 Netball Europe Open Championships[62][63][85] | 2th |
| 2019 Netball Europe Open Championships[86] | 3rd |
Source:[2]
Europe Netball Open Challenge
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 2024 Europe Netball Open Challenge[87] | 1st |
Invitational tournaments
Celtic Cup
The Celtic Cup series is hosted and organised by Netball Northern Ireland, Netball Scotland and Wales Netball. The series features Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales playing a series of test matches against each other and visiting national teams.[88][89][90]
| Tournaments | Place |
|---|---|
| 2024 Celtic Cup[91][92] | 4th |
| 2025 Celtic Cup[93][94] | 6th |
Netball Singapore Nations Cup
Northern Ireland won the Netball Singapore Nations Cup in both 2009 and 2015 [95][96]
Notable players
Current squad
| Northern Ireland – 2025 Celtic Cup roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Manager: Laura Lovett
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Captains
| Captains | Years |
|---|---|
| Pamela Lockett | 1963 |
| June Wightman | 1975 |
| Sheelagh O'Prey | 1979 |
| Elizabeth Rodgers[102] | 1987, 1991 |
| Jennifer Bradley[16] | 1999 |
| Noleen Lennon[19][95][98] | 2009–2011 |
| Gemma Gibney[60][82][96][103][104] | 2012–2016 |
| Hannah Willis[53][32][33] | 2014 |
| Caroline O'Hanlon[20][35][62][105] | 2016– |
| Fionnuala Toner[106] | 2024– |
| Michelle Magee[93][101] | 2025– |
Source:[107]
Head coaches
| Coach | Years |
|---|---|
| Doreen Dutton | 1971 |
| Maureen Mawhinney[108] | 1975, 1979 |
| Mary French | 1983 |
| Mary Hicks | 1987, 1991 |
| Ann Anderson | 1995 |
| Marian Lofthouse[16] | 1999 |
| Gill Mason[17] | 2003 |
| Elaine Rice[75][109] | 2008–2011 |
| Jill McIntosh[60] | 2012 |
| Kate Carpenter[25][26][27][110] | 2013–2015 |
| Elaine Rice[79][109] | 2015 |
| Julie Kimber[96][110] | 2015 |
| Elaine Rice[111][112] | 2016–2018 |
| Dan Ryan[112][113] | 2018–2021 |
| Elaine Rice[114][115] | 2021–2022 |
| Sheonah Forbes[116] | 2023– |
Source:[107]
Honours
- Europe Netball Open Challenge
- Winners: 2024
- Netball World Cup Qualifiers
- Winners: 2011
- Netball Singapore Nations Cup
- Winners: 2009, 2015
- Netball Europe Open Championships
- Runner up: 2012, 2017