Big Irish welcome for Pauw's new recruits, says Ruesha Littlejohn

The Girls in Green stalwart made the switch from Scotland herself.

IN CAMP: Lucy Quinn, right, and team-mates Ruesha Littlejohn, left, and Grace Moloney arrive for a Republic of Ireland women training session at Dama de Noche Football Center in Marbella this week. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ruesha Littlejohn can empathise with the foreign legion jumping on the Irish bandwagon.

Qualification for this July’s Women’s World Cup in Australia sparked a surge in declaring by a clutch of Irish-eligible talent, with Vera Pauw responsible for assessing their readiness for that stage and more importantly the genuineness to their pleas.

Aoife Mannion and Marissa Sheva were the first to pass the tests – now part of the squad in Spain preparing for Wednesday’s friendly against China – and it’s understood an Australian native is poised to join the wave of newcomers.

Exactly a decade ago – when the granny rule was almost exclusively the preserve of the men’s Ireland team – Littlejohn defected from Scotland.

It didn’t cause quite the stir of fellow Glaswegians Aiden McGeady and James McCarthy before her but like them a sniffy attitude by the Scots hastened the changeover.

“I’d represented Scotland up to the U19 Euro finals but got banished for being a naughty girl,” the 32-year-old recalls. “I was told to grow up.” 

Arsenal’s Irish contingent of Emma Byrne, Niamh Fahey, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy profited from their clubmate’s international exile by facilitating her enrollment to the Irish set-up for a Euro campaign that coincidentally involved the Scots.

“I used to spend a lot of my summer holidays at my Gran’s in Tyrone and felt it was really cool to play for Ireland,” she added.

A cold reality did hit when the generation of players she parted elevated Scotland to the senior Euros and World Cup back-to-back. The nearest Ireland got in parallel was spurning a playoff chance for last year’s Euro by losing against Ukraine to an own-goal and missed penalty.

“That Ukraine thing - we were so close,” reflects the Aston Villa midfielder. “Looking back, I feel you have to go through that - fail that hard and feel that failure.

“We all speak about it now, how we couldn’t control our nerves and emotions.

“I tried to go for a nap and I was absolutely buzzing. My eyes were glued open and it was: ‘Right, I won’t be going for a nap’. It was just pure nerves.

“So many girls from that Ukraine game played against Scotland in the October playoff and that helped them handle it and get through.” 

There they are again – the Celtic cousins.

A broken foot sustained in the playoff-clinching penultimate win over Finland at Tallaght in September ended Littlejohn’s run in the team.

A simple pattern has unravelled during Pauw’s tenure that once her stalwart is fit, she starts, and that's likely to see her reinstated on Wednesday.

Behind her could be Manchester United’s Mannion, who recently ditched England for the land of her parents, and ahead of Washington Spirit attacker Sheva, a US underage cap but realising a dream of Ireland duty.

“We have a tradition – and it happened to me too – where we tie the girls to a chair and burn any of their old football tops so her England top will be burning soon,” Littlejohn explained, silencing her audience.

“Ah, I’m only kidding. Everyone knows Irish people are lovely and friendly, so everyone has welcomed them with open arms.

“Obviously there are going to be questions here and there. But I think it’s up to the girls to come in and prove that they want to play for Ireland.

“They will give everything to be here, and we will respect them for that.”