Former Republic of Ireland's women's goalkeeper Emma Byrne has come out of retirement to sign for Spanish second-flight side Terrassa.
The 40-year-old, who brought down the curtain on her illustrious career last year, has been living in Barcelona.
Leixlip native Byrne won 134 caps for Ireland and won the Champions League, 11 English league titles and 10 FA Cups in her 17 years at Arsenal.
Terrassa's manager Ezequiel Segura feels Byrne's experience can be vital to his side:
"We have a very young team and we wanted to bring experienced players to contribute that plus. We signed Laura Caballero and Rocío Serrano. Both are friends of Emma and who approached her to come and join us.
"We must take advantage of circumstances that arise," Segura said of convincing Byrne to come of retirement.
"We want to make big strides and this signing brings us closer our goals. We are ambitious and we want to get to play in the First Division. We're newcomers to this division, but are going to give everything to go up to the Iberdrola."
He added that the former Ireland captain is already settling in well:
"She's a leap in quality in every possible way, both in a footballing and human sense. It's amazing how humble she is with the record she has. She's contributing a lot, both with the goalkeepers we have in training, to the rest of the teammates with her experience. Without a doubt, this is the best signing of the season".
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