One of the major deals in the close season of the Danske Bank Women’s Premiership was Cliftonville Ladies completing the signing of Northern Ireland international Louise McDaniel.
The 20-year-old was one of three internationals to sign for the Reds this summer alongside the McGuinness sister Kirsty and Caitlin, to elevate the Reds into the bracket of potential title contenders.
McDaniel won three league titles, three League Cups and two Women’s Challenge Cups at Linfield Ladies as a teenage star before joining Blackburn Rovers in 2019 and subsequently had a spell at Hearts.
After returning to Belfast in recent months, she explained that adding more winners medals to her collection was behind the move: “Whenever Covid hit, the football season stopped and it made sense for me at that time to come home.
“I had been training with the Northern Ireland squad in the build up to the playoffs anyway, so the best thing for me at that time was to be at home.
“I was away from home for about two years and at the start it was tough for me - I was a teenager and I was living by myself, and even though I enjoyed it, it was tough.
“At that time, I was talking to Cliftonville’s staff about what their plans and ambitions were - and it immediately appealed to me.
“I was with Kirsty and Caitlin at Linfield and we won lots of trophies together and knowing other girls from the international setup too - which made it easier.
“Our aim now is to continue winning trophies, but this time at Solitude.”
McDaniel has started all three matches for the Reds to date this campaign - a four-goal opening day win at Derry City Women has been followed by one-goal victories in Belfast derbies against her old club Linfield and Crusaders Strikers.
When asked if the Reds could be genuine title challengers this campaign, the international added: “There is a lot of potential in this squad.
“Maybe people need to realise that we are virtually an entirely new team and it might take us a little bit of time to reach our potential and properly gel together.
“Whenever I left the Premiership a few years back, Cliftonville did not have the professionalism and outlook that they have now - it is a huge change in a short space of time.
“I trained with them a few times before deciding where I was moving and I couldn’t have any complaints about how they were setup.
“It’s great for everyone at the club because everyone is now able to reach their potential and the younger girls have something to strive towards.”
John McGrady’s side are making waves this season but face arguably their toughest test of the season so far as they host Glentoran Women this week.
The Glens dropped their first points of the campaign as they were held 1-1 at Linfield last week and Wednesday’s clash at Solitude will be a good marker of where both sides are this season.
McDaniel continued: “Glentoran is obviously a big game as you’re playing the champions but every game in this league is tough and each one is a massive challenge.
“Every game is just as important as the next and obviously this will be a tough game but we are going into it with a winning mentality.
“This is going to be a tough season and a long one with a lot of twists and turns so we’re taking each game as it comes and see where it takes us.”
