Republic of Ireland defender Quinn retires

Republic of Ireland defender Louise Quinn has announced her retirement from the game.

The 34-year-old accumulated 121 international caps, making her debut in a friendly against Poland in February 2008.

Quinn scored 16 senior international goals, 15 of which were headers, and played every minute of her country's historic first appearance at the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Her club career included spells in England with Notts County, Arsenal and Birmingham City, as well as a season in Italy with Fiorentina.

During her time at Arsenal, the county Wicklow native won the Women's Super League and the FA Women's League Cup.

She is currently on the books of Birmingham but has not played since suffering a hip injury last October.

She follows fellow Republic internationals Diane Caldwell, Niamh Fahey and Julie-Ann Russell, who confirmed their retirements over recent months.

"When the time arrives that you need to write your retirement statement, they are the hardest words to find," Quinn said on Tuesday.

"But it is time for me to hang up the boots. There are so many reasons as to why or why not but it's just one of those things, when you know, you know.

She added that playing for her country was her motivation for playing the game.

"The Ireland team... that is the reason why I always wanted to play this game. Some of the best moments of my life have been in the green jersey.

"I've been part of something so special. The foundations were laid by legends of the women's team before me and for a short period I was lucky enough to play with a few of them too.

"Then it was up to us to continue that fight to put the Ireland team on map on the international stage. We built, we fought, we were always a team, a group that would give everything to everyone in our Irish bubble. And the World Cup proved that dreams do come true."