Ruesha Littlejohn (born 3 July 1990) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a midfielder for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. She has had four spells with Glasgow City, and stints with

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

club

IL Sandviken Idrettslaget Sandviken is a Norwegian sports club from the neighborhood of Sandviken in Bergenhus borough, Bergen. It has sections for basketball, football and handball. It was mostly known for its women's football team that played in the Topp ...

and English sides

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

London Bees London Bees is an England, English women's football (soccer), women's football club affiliated with Barnet F.C. They play in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the Women's football in England#Pyramid, Engl ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

. Born and raised in Scotland to an Irish Scottish mother, she has represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

levels, respectively.

Club career

Glasgow-born Littlejohn played youth football with Clydebank and Baillieston girls before joining Arsenal North. She signed for Glasgow City in January 2007 and won four successive titles with the club. In January 2010 Littlejohn signed for English champions

and made an immediate debut in the Gunners' 2–1 home win over Chelsea. Shortly afterwards

Tony Gervaise Tony Gervaise (born 10 May 1955, in Paisley) is a Scottish association football former player turned women's football coach. He is a former manager of Arsenal Ladies, having succeeded Vic Akers in 2009. Career Gervaise played as a left back, ...

, who had also been Littlejohn's coach in Scotland's youth national teams, stood down as Arsenal manager. With Littlejohn then out of favour she returned to Scotland on loan with

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, where she featured in the first women's match to be staged at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

. Littlejohn then returned to Glasgow City. She hit seven goals in the final game of the season against Inverness, as City secured another Premier League title. Along with Megan Sneddon and Suzanne Lappin, Littlejohn signed for Liverpool Ladies ahead of the

2011 FA WSL The 2011 FA WSL was the inaugural season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 13 April 2011 and ended on 28 August 2011. The league also took a break between 12 May and mid-July to allow preparatio ...

season. The Scottish trio made their Liverpool bow in a friendly win over Hibernian Ladies. On her competitive debut against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

, Littlejohn marked the occasion by scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. She also fired a last-minute goal as Liverpool held rivals Everton 3–3 in the opening match of the WSL campaign. During the mid-season break Littlejohn and Lappin went back to Scotland, this time with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, making their debuts against Rangers. In May 2012,

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

(FA) gave Littlejohn a six-match ban and charged her £500 costs for comments made on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. During the

2012 FA WSL The 2012 FA WSL was the second season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 8 April 2012 and was scheduled to end in October 2012. The league had a break between 8 July and 19 August to allow prepa ...

mid-season break, Littlejohn returned to Glasgow City: "It is great to be back at City again. I know the club so well. I have been here since I turned 16 years old and City is like my home, as I always seem to come back here." In March 2014 Littlejohn signed for the Norwegian First club

, based in Bergen. By August she had scored 11 goals in 13 games to top the goalscorer's chart. She finished the season as the league's top goalscorer with 19 goals from 22 matches as Sandviken were promoted to the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

champions. Littlejohn was called into the Ireland squad in February 2015, listed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. After a year with Celtic in 2015, Littlejohn returned to Glasgow City for her fourth spell with the club in January 2016. She departed during the mid-season break, and was back in Celtic colours for the second part of the campaign. In July 2018 Littlejohn signed with

. In 2019, she joined

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

on non-contract terms. On 25 January 2020, she signed a deal until the end of the season. On 16 January 2021, it was announced the Littlejohn had signed for

for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. She made her debut the next day in a 0–0 draw with

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. On 1 September 2021, it was announced that Littlejohn had signed for

for the 2021-22 season. On 25 May 2023 she announced that she would be leaving

Aston Villa W.F.C. Aston Villa Women Football Club is the women's Women's association football, football team of Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, currently playing in the Women's Super League. The club has been in existence since 1973. Originally titled ''Solihull ...

at the end of the 2022-23 season. On 23 August 2023,

announced that they had signed Littlejohn on a two-year deal. On 21 January 2025, the Lionesses announced that Littlejohn had left the club by mutual agreement. On 12 March 2025,

announced that they had signed Littlejohn. On 30 June 2025, it was announced that Littlejohn was departing the club to pursue full-time football opportunities during the July transfer window, based on an existing agreement between the club and player.

International career

Scotland

Littlejohn represented

at Under-15 and Under-17 level. At the Under-19 age group, Littlejohn was part of the side which qualified for the

2008 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2008 Final Tournament was held in France between 7–19 July 2008. Players born after 1 January 1989 were eligible to participate in this competition. Qualification There were two qualification rounds.< ...

in France. She scored Scotland's only goal in a 3–1 defeat to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the final tournament group stage. Littlejohn scored 12 goals in her 15 appearances for Scotland's Under-19s. Scotland's senior national team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Anna Signeul Anna Signeul (born 20 May 1961) is a Swedish football manager and former football player. She was the national coach of the Scotland women's team from March 2005 until 2017, and the national coach of the Finland women's team from 2017 to 2022. ...

excluded Littlejohn due to personal differences: "Em, well, the senior manager wasn’t a fan of mine. I think she thought I had too much carry on, a little personality, and she wasn’t really into that."

Ireland

After three years of not playing internationally, Littlejohn's situation caught the eye of Arsenal teammates

Emma Byrne Emma Anne Byrne (born 14 June 1979) is an Irish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She played for the Republic of Ireland on a record 134 occasions and served as captain of the team. She spent almost 17 years with Arsenal before joini ...

Yvonne Tracy Yvonne Tracy (born 27 February 1981) is an Irish female international football defender. She is a well known player at the club and international level, competing in youth cups beginning at age 16. Club career Tracy began her career with Liffo ...

and

Niamh Fahey Niamh Fahey ( ; born 13 October 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Women's Super League club Liverpool, which she captains, and formerly the Republic of Ireland national team. She ...

. They alerted the FAI to her

eligibility Eligibility may refer to: * The right to run for office (in elections), sometimes called ''passive suffrage'' or ''voting eligibility'' * Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term ''eligible bachelor'' * Validity for participation, as in ...

through her maternal grandparents. In February 2012 Littlejohn received her first call–up to the senior

squad, for the

2012 Algarve Cup The 2012 Algarve Cup was the nineteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It began on 29 February and ended on 7 March 2012. Format The twelve invited ...

. She made her debut with the Irish national team against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

at the final game of the Algarve Cup on 7 March 2012. Ireland won 2–1 to avoid a last place finish. Altogether Littlejohn has so far been capped over 60 times by the Irish. She was named in

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch Women's association football, football coach and former player who is the manager of the United Arab Emirates women's national football team, United Arab Emirates women's national team. She has manage ...

's squad for the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Personal life

Ruesha's twin sister Shebahn was a travel reporter on Glasgow radio station 102.5 Clyde 1 and now works for

Talksport Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

. The family has a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

background and grew up in

Old Drumchapel Old Drumchapel is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located around Drumchapel railway station and formed part of the Cowdenhill and Garscadden Estates. It is situated to the south of the larger and newer Drumchapel housing estate, an ...

. She is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

. In June 2019, fellow player and captain

Katie McCabe Katie Alison McCabe (born 21 September 1995) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for English Women's Super League club Arsenal and captains the Republic of Ireland women's national team. Mainly a left back, she can also operate as ...

revealed that they are in a relationship and that

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

is very accepting of LGBT people. The couple split in May 2023.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goals first. Score column indicates score after each Littlejohn goal. Updated as of 5 May 2023.''

Honours

Glasgow City *

Scottish FA Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Women's Premier League Cup The Scottish Women's Premier League Cup, currently known as the Sky Sports Cup due to sponsorship and commonly shortened to the SWPL Cup, is a league cup competition in women's football in Scotland. The cup is open only to the teams in the Scottis ...

: 2009 & 2013 IL Sandviken *

: 2014 Individual *Glasgow City Top Goalscorer: 2009 *

topscorer: 2014

References

External links

Ruesha Littlejohn
at Glasgow City FC

at Liverpool LFC
Ruesha Littlejohn
at Celtic FC
Ruesha Littlejohn
at the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

(FAI) {{DEFAULTSORT:Littlejohn, Ruesha 1990 births Living people Celtic F.C. Women players Arsenal W.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. Women players Glasgow City F.C. players FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Women's association football forwards Footballers from Glasgow SK Brann (women) players Republic of Ireland expatriate women's association footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Irish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Scottish Women's Premier League players Scottish LGBTQ footballers Irish LGBTQ footballers Scottish lesbian sportswomen London Bees players London City Lionesses players West Ham United F.C. Women players Rangers W.F.C. players Birmingham City W.F.C. players Aston Villa W.F.C. players Scottish women's footballers Scottish people of Northern Ireland descent Scottish twins Irish people of Scottish descent Irish lesbian sportswomen Scottish expatriate women's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Norway 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Scotland women's youth international footballers 21st-century Scottish sportswomen 21st-century Irish sportswomen