Four Shelbourne double-winners poised to join Rovers revolution

BIG LOSS: Abbie Larkin is leaving Shelbourne to join Shamrock Rovers. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Shamrock Rovers are set to land a quadruple swoop of Shelbourne’s double-winners – with Abbie Larkin, Amanda Budden, Shauna Fox and Jess Gargan heading for Tallaght.

Rovers – back in the women’s league after a seven-year hiatus – had already landed a pair of stars apiece from Peamount and Athlone Town before upping the ante for Shels’ stars.

Noel King’s Reds were confident enough to declare that 17-year-old striker Larkin had committed for the 2023 season by attaching ‘never in doubt’ to their social media post on December 9.

Doubt soon seeped in, despite the lure of another Champions League campaign in the summer, and Larkin has performed a U-turn amid renewed interest from the Hoops, as have three of her teammates.

Shelbourne hadn’t confirmed the recaptures of Gargan, Fox and Budden yet but were left startled when it was indicated the trio are emulating Larkin by joining the exodus.

Ireland international Budden has been a long-term target for Rovers, her reputation as the finest goalkeeper in the country copperfastened by once again keeping the most clean sheets last season.

Unlike their stopper behind them, right-back Gargan and centre-half Fox did gain the deserved acclaim of inclusion in the FAI’s team of the season for 2022.

It was already apparent during the awards season that big-spending Rovers were not alone outbidding rivals in monetary terms but offering contract options beyond the first year.

Jason Carey, their football director headhunted from Peamount United earlier this year, caused a stir when adding Stephanie Roche and Áine O’Gorman from his former club by claiming the Hoops sequel were out to 'change the women’s game in Ireland'.

It is only in the coming season that the FAI have upgraded the league’s status to professional, a leap Shels would have preferred to be deferred fully by 12 months to facilitate the transition from amateur.

While the transfer window opened on December 1, the FAI’s switchover from FAI Net to Connect System caused delays, creating vacuums between players agreeing contracts and them being registered.

Both Athlone Town and DLR Waves have lost players to rivals, the latter’s Nadine Clare ironically moving to Shels, after they’d publicly announced their retention.