Veteran Ireland midfielder Littlejohn joins Shamrock Rovers 

The 87-times capped midfielder moves to the League of Ireland from Women’s Championship side London City Lionesses who she left in January. 

READY TO ROLL: Shamrock Rovers new signing Ruesha Littlejohn with head coach Collie O'Neill during her unveiling at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Shamrock Rovers have completed a rumoured but nonetheless significant coup as they confirmed the signing of Ireland veteran Ruesha Littlejohn. 

The 87-timed capped midfielder moves to the League of Ireland from Women’s Championship side London City Lionesses who she left in January. 

Littlejohn started both of Ireland's Women's Nations League games last month as Carla Ward, her former manager at Aston Villa and Birmingham City, took command of the national team. The 34-year-old brings a wealth of experience to Tallaght having also played professionally with Glasgow City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Celtic.

"We’re absolutely delighted to have Ruesha join our team," Collie O’Neill, head coach of the Shams women's team said. "Having a player with her level of experience is not just beneficial for us, but it’s also massive for the entire league”

Littlejohn is a former international teammate of Shamrock Rovers skipper Áine O’Gorman and played in all three of Ireland’s games at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia.

For her part, the veteran insisted she's most looking forward to getting back to playing more regular football.

"It will be good to get back in a routine of playing football, working with the likes of Collie, he’s obviously a very good coach, he’s been in the game a long time," said the Glasgow-born star, who played underage football for Scotland before switching to Ireland thanks to her maternal grandparents. 

"I’m looking forward to keep learning, it will be nice to have a manager that’s going to help progress me and I’m looking forward to hopefully being here for the team and hopefully we can win as many games as possible” 

The Hoops confirmed that international clearance has been received with Littlejohn available to make her debut for this Saturday’s game against Athlone Town at Tallaght Stadium (Kick off 5pm).