Ruesha Littlejohn: Signing for the Hoops and Her Career So Far

Introduction

Within this article we will dive into the incredible journey of Republic of Ireland international Ruesha Littlejohn, including her club and country journeys. 

Who Is Ruesha Littlejohn?

Ruesha Littlejohn is a 34 year old professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder. Ruesha Littlejohn was born in Glasgow and raised by her Irish Scottish mother. Ruesha Littlejohn has played for many different football clubs, however she has recently joined Shamrock Rovers in Ireland, and has represented Republic of Ireland on an international level since 2012. Ruesha owns a podcast, called The Ruesha & Shebahn Show, with her twin sister, Shebahn Aherne. The podcast is filmed at their home and talks about all things women’s football, mothering, dating and therapy. The two sisters are open about discussing and sharing information about their personal lives and experiences. Ruesha has represented 2 different national teams and 14 different football clubs.

Her International Journey:

Being born in Glasgow, with her mother being Irish Scottish, Ruesha had the opportunity to represent either Ireland or Scotland. 

Littlejohn represented Scotland at Under-15 and Under-17 level.

However her international career began in 2007, where she represented Scotland U19s. She represented Scotland for a year with the U19s making 15 appearances and scoring 12 goals. Littlejohn went on to make the team which qualified for the 2008 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship, in which she featured in Scotland’s tie against England, and scored their only goal in a 3-1 defeat to England in the final tournament group stage. 

Ruesha Littlejohn felt that she was being excluded by Head Coach, Anna Signeul due to her personality differences. Ruesha Littlejohn stopped playing football internationally for 3 years until, she caught the attention of Arsenal teammates Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracy and Niamh Fahey, who altered the FAI (FA of Ireland) of Ruesha Littlejohn’s eligibility to represent Ireland, through her maternal grandparents. 

In February 2012, Littlejohn received her first international call up to represent Republic of Ireland WNT, for the 2012 Algarve Cup. On March 7th, Littlejohn made her debut for the Republic of Ireland against Hungary at the final of the Algarve Cup, in which Ireland went on to win 2-1. 

Since then Ruesha Littlejohn has made 87 appearances for Republic of Ireland, and was even named in Vera Pauw’s squad for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia, in which the Republic of Ireland played their first ever World Cup game against hosts, Australia, losing 1-0, before losing to Canada and drawing to Nigeria, which meant Republic of Ireland were knocked out in the Group Stages.

Her Senior Career:

 Ruesha Littlejohn’s senior career began in 2006 when she represented Arsenal North from 2006 to 2007.

 In January 2007, Littlejohn went on to sign for Glasgow City. She went on to represent them for two seasons, winning four successive titles with the club, including the Scottish FA Cup, Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup and Glasgow City Top Goal Scorer in 2009. Across her two seasons at Glasgow City, Ruesha Littlejohn went on to make 43 appearances, in which she scored 53 goals during her time at Glasgow City.

Ruesha Littlejohn made the move to Arsenal in January 2010, where she made two appearances for the club, including her immediate debut in Arsenal’s 2-1 home victory over Chelsea.

 Littlejohn was then released on loan to  Rangers, after the departure of Head Coach, Tony Gervaise. On loan to Rangers, Littlejohn featured in Rover’s first women’s game to be staged at Ibrox Stadium. 

During the 2010-11 season, Littlejohn went on to return to Glasgow City, in which she made further appearances and hit a total of seven goals in their final game of the season, resulting in another successful campaign in the Scottish Women’s Premier League, securing the title for another season. 

After her successful season with Glasgow City, Littlejohn made the move to Liverpool, and signed ahead of the 2011 FA WSL season. On her competitive debut, she went on to score a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic in the FA Women’s Cup. She also went on to score the last minute equalizer in the Merseyside Derby, which ended in a 3-3 draw for the opening game of the WSL campaign. During her time at Liverpool, Littlejohn went on to make 13 appearances and score two goals. 

In January, Ruesha Littlejohn went back to Scotland, this time on loan to Celtic. Littlejohn went on to make her debut for Celtic against Rangers. Littlejohn was limited to only making two appearances and scoring one goal, after she received a six-match ban and £500 fine by the FA in May 2012 for making comments on Twitter.

During the 2012 mid-season break, Littlejohn went on to resign for Glasgow City. Making 26 appearances and scoring 14 goals for the Scottish side. 

After her successful season with Glasgow City, Littlejohn made the move to Norwegian club IL Sandviken in March 2014. Littlejohn finished the season as the segues top goalscorer, scoring 19 goals during her 22 appearances, helping to secure promotion to the Toppserien League.

Littlejohn then returned to Celtic, making 19 appearances and scoring 11 goals. 

After a season with Celtic, Littlejohn returned to Glasgow City in January 2016, for her fourth spell with the club. However she departed during the mid-season break and was back with Celtic for the second half of the season. 

Ruesha Littlejohn remained with Celtic from 2016 to 2018, making 22 appearances and scoring 13 goals. 

Littlejohn went on to sign for London Bees in July 2019. Making 17 club appearances and scoring five goals. 

Ruesha Littlejohn then went on to join West Ham United in 2019 under non-contract terms. In January 2020, she signed a contract with the club. Littlejohn made 2 appearances for the London club. 

From 2020 to 2021, Littlejohn represented Leicester City, scoring one goal within her 6 club appearances.

After the stop in the season due to COVID-19, Littlejohn signed for Birmingham City in January 2021, making her debut the next day in a 0-0 draw against Brighton. Going on to make 11 appearances for the club. 

In September 2021, Littlejohn went on to sign for Aston Villa, in which she remained there for 2 seasons, making 25 club appearances.

After starring for the Republic of Ireland at the Women’s World Cup in July 2023, Ruesha Littlejohn went on to sign for London City Lionesses. During her time at London City Lionesses, she made 17 appearances and scored one goal. Her increase in presence on social media was a huge boost for Championship club London City Lionesses. 

However it was announced in January 2025, that after two seasons with the club, Ruesha Littlejohn and London City Lionesses had parted ways on mutual terms. 

After months of speculation about where Ruesha would go next, it was announced on March 12th that Littlejohn had made the move to Shamrock Rovers, over in Ireland.