Shelbourne have confirmed the signing of American World Cup winner Heather O'Reilly, who has come out of retirement to try to help the Dublin club qualify for the Women's Champions League.
O'Reilly, who along with winning a World Cup with her native USA has three Olympic gold medals, retired in 2019 after a hugely successful career that saw her capped 231 times.
She's the 10th most capped player of all time and joins on an initial deal that will take her until the end of the season.
The 37-year-old played for several different teams in the National Women's Soccer League and had a season-long stint with Arsenal in the WSL.
Speaking on the BBC World Football podcast where she is a host, O'Reilly revealed that despite all she has achieved in her career, she felt that something was still missing because she had never played in the Champions League.
A recent conversation with Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger convinced her to come out of retirement to give it one more try and that has led her to joining with Shelbourne.
O'Reilly explained that following conversations with former team-mates Denise O'Sullivan and Katie McCabe, she reached out to Shels.
"I reached out to them. I don't know if it was known that I was interested in coming out of retirement. It has been three years nearly since I officially retired from club football. People needed to know that I was interested.
"When I was contemplating what clubs would be interesting to me and what clubs I felt I could make an immediate impact on, I thought about Shelbourne. They're the champions of Ireland, they had a very successful season last year in order to win the league, but they are still very much a club and a league that needs a lot of growth.
"Some of my former team-mates are Irish: Denise O'Sullivan at North Carolina Courage, Louise Quinn and Katie McCabe at Arsenal. They are producing some wonderful talent but they need a lot of help with their league in terms of resources and professionalism.
"I think that’s sort of part of why I’m going as well. I feel that I could bring some eyeballs onto this league, bring some eyeballs onto this team and grow the game a little bit whilst living out this dream of mine to play Champions League football.
"A lot of people will look at this, raise some eyebrows and think that this is an interesting career move, but I'm chasing my dream. I had this unchecked box and I’m looking to go do it, and for good reasons. I’m thrilled about it, the club is thrilled about it, and I think it’s one of those situations where it’s just a win-win all around."
Shelbourne open their Champions League qualifying campaign against ZNK Pomurje of Slovenia on 18 August.
Shels manager Noel King believes that the arrival of O'Reilly will offer a huge boost to the league as a whole.
"Heather is a proven winner, we're thrilled to bring one of the greatest players to ever play the game to Tolka Park," he said.
"It’s an amazing moment for the club and for the Women’s National League as a whole to have a player of Heather’s stature. I think in particular, our younger players will flourish sharing the stage with a player who has seen, done and won it all."
