Clare Shine signs with Cork City Women's FC

Cork City WFC have announced the signing of forward Clare Shine ahead of the 2017 season, which begins tomorrow.

The Republic of Ireland international returns to her former club from Scottish champions Glasgow City FC.

The 21-year-old Cork native began her career at Cork in the inaugural season of the Women’s National League before moving to Raheny United in 2013.

While at Raheny, she won a League and FAI Women’s Senior Cup double along with scoring four goals in Raheny’s UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign, where they qualified from their group and reached the round of 32.

The following year saw Shine move to Scotland to join Glasgow City FC. In her first year at the club, she netted a hat-trick in the Scottish Women’s Cup Final as Glasgow won 3-0.

At international level, Shine played for the Irish U19’s at the 2014 UEFA Women’s U19 Championship where she scored the winning goal in a victory over Spain as Ireland topped their group.

Shine made her senior international debut in November of 2015, also against Spain as she came on as a second half substitute. She was also named in Colin Bell’s squad for the recent Cyprus Cup, where Ireland finished fourth, their highest ever finish in the tournament. 

Cork City Women’s FC manager Frank Kelleher believes that his new signing is one of the most talented players in the country with great future ahead of her in the game.

“We are delighted to welcome Clare Shine back to Cork City W.F.C. This is a key signing for us and shows our progress as a club. Clare is one of the most talented players in the country and has a great future in the game,” Kelleher told www.corkcitywomensfc.com.  

“Returning to her native club is fantastic, as she had other clubs looking to sign her. Clare brings huge experience to our club. Already in training we see her professional approach, raising the standards in training, talking to the younger players, leading by example.”

“Her involvement with the senior team in Cyprus recently has made our squad want to push on and work harder to continually improve. We are looking forward to the season knowing we have a top player being part of the development of the women's squad at Cork City W.F.C,” Kelleher said.

Shine goes straight into the Cork City squad which will travel to Dublin to take on defending Women’s National League champions Shelbourne LFC at Morton Stadium tomorrow evening.

"I'm delighted to sign with Cork City Women's FC. I'm really looking forward to the season ahead, the club has come on massively and I think everybody is prepared and ready for tomorrow’s game," Shine told the official club website.