The 42

IRISH FOOTBALL GREAT Louise Quinn has announced her impending retirement from the game after a career which spanned almost two decades and saw her earn 121 caps for her country.

Central defender Quinn has spent the last four years at Birmingham City, making 84 appearances and captaining the club since her arrival.

The towering 34-year-old will end her playing career upon the conclusion of Birmingham’s Championship campaign this Sunday, with the second-placed Brummies hosting table-toppers London City in a straight shootout for promotion.

“It is time for me to hang up the boots,” Quinn said. “There are so many reasons as to why or why not but it’s just one of those things: when you know, you know.”

Wicklow native Quinn began playing football locally with the Blessington boys’ U6 team before joining the girls’ side at Lakeside FC.

She joined Dublin outfit Peamount in 2004 and, two years later, aged just 16, she was appointed Peas’ first-team captain by Eileen Gleeson.

Quinn skippered Peamount in the 2008 FAI Cup final at Richmond Park, which they lost 2-1 to St Francis’. She missed the club’s eventual success in the 2010 final while on work placement in America, but led her club to the league title during the inaugural Women’s National League season of 2011/12.

Quinn won two further League Cups with Peamount and also made seven appearances in the Women’s Champions League, scoring a hat-trick against ZNK Krka in August 2011.

After a spell with Eskilstuna in Sweden between 2013 and 2016, during which she earned promotion from the second tier, became captain of the side, and again lined out in the Champions League, Quinn signed for Notts County in February 2017. However, the club’s women’s side folded two months later, with Quinn moving to Arsenal on an initially short-term contract that May.

Quinn went on to become a key player Arsenal for three seasons, winning a League Cup in 2017/18 and a Women’s Super League title in 2018/19.

After earning less game-time during the 2019/20 WSL campaign, Quinn spent 2020/21 with Fiorentina in Italy’s Serie A before returning to England where she was immediately appointed Birmingham City’s captain upon her arrival at the club.

“I’ve been through it all with these clubs,” Quinn said. “I’ve won, lost, been promoted, relegated, experienced liquidation, reached the Champions League with many headers scored and many tackles missed. But they all have all given me a chance to prove how much I love the game.

“And that’s it: I love the game and I’m going miss it.”

A message from Louise Quinn…

After 16 years and 121 caps, Louise brings her footballing career to a close 🇮🇪

A legend of women’s football in Ireland, with memories to last a lifetime. Thank you, Lou! ☘️ https://t.co/pMKoxyRLmq

— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) April 29, 2025

A statement from Birmingham City said that Quinn had “captained the team with passion, consistency, and leadership.”

“Her commitment on and off the pitch earned the respect of team-mates, staff, and fans alike,” the statement added. “Everyone at Birmingham City would like to thank Louise for her immense contributions to the club and the game. We wish her all the very best in her future endeavours.”

At international level, Quinn represented Ireland at U17 and U19 level before making her senior debut as a late substitute in an friendly win over Poland in John Hyland Park, Dublin, in February 2008.

She went on to become one of seven centurions for the women’s national team and played every minute of Ireland’s 2023 World Cup campaign, which was their maiden appearance at the tournament.

“The Ireland team: that is the reason why I always wanted to play this game,” Quinn said of her international career.

“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.

Centre-back Quinn, who was top scorer for Birmingham during their 2021/22 relegation campaign from the Women’s Super League, is also her country’s fourth-highest goalscorer ever with with 16 goals, the first of which came in an Algarve Cup loss to Portugal in March 2012.

All but one of her 16 international goals were scored with her head.

Quinn was nominated five times for the FAI Senior Women’s Player of the Year award, winning it in both 2013 and 2019. Her last appearance for Ireland came in the 3-1 Euro qualifier victory over France at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in July of last year.

The FAI’s outgoing chief football officer Marc Canham said of Quinn’s retirement: “Louise deserves her place in Irish football history as one of our best defenders and most consistent performers.

“She stood out in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division and went on to have a fine club career overseas, but it is her performances for Ireland that we will remember most. She has been an excellent player and a brilliant ambassador for women and girls’ football.”

FAI president Paul Cooke added: “On behalf of the Football Association of Ireland, I’d like to thank Louise for her incredible career and service to the Ireland Women’s National Team since making her debut in 2008.

“She has been a brilliant defender and a scorer of important goals. We look forward to honouring her at an upcoming international game.”

Written by Gavan Casey and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.