Former Hibs and Scotland star Kim Little has signed for Seattle Reign in the US National Women’s Soccer League.
The 23-year-old joined Hibs eight years ago from Buchan Girls, after travelling down from Aberdeen at three times a week for training.
Kim made her debut as a 16 year old in a Champions League game against Barcelona, and then marked her Scottish Women’s Premier League debut with a hat-trick against Hutchison Vale.
At that time Hibs had by far the strongest squad in the country and Kim helped the club win the SWPL title, the Scottish Cup, the Premier League Cup and competed in the UEFA Champions League twice.
In the 2006/07 league campaign Hibs won every match with Kim scoring a phenomenal 55 goals in just 30 appearances, and she carried on where he had left off the following season, scoring a further 33 goals in 18 appearances. Her performances unsurprisingly caught the eye of the top English clubs, with Arsenal Ladies, the biggest club in the UK and major player on the European scene securing her signature.
Kim made an immediate impact, scoring in a 4-1 victory at the Emirates over London rivals Chelsea, and since then she has helped the north London club win five League titles, two WSL Continental Cups, three FA Cups and one Premier League Cup.
Although only 23, Kim has already been capped 86 times by Scotland and was part of the British Olympic team that reached the quarter-finals of the London 2012 Olympics.
At Arsenal Kim won an incredible four league titles, three FA Cups and four League Cups.
The English FA Women’s Player of the Year told the official Arsenal website: “Playing in America has always been an ambition of mine. To get the opportunity to play in the professional league and work with Laura Harvey (Former Arsenal Manager) is my main reason for joining Seattle Reign. It’s obviously very difficult to leave Arsenal – I’ve had a great six years here. I’ve worked with so many great players so it was a very difficult decision but it’s one that I feel has been made at the right time.
“I’ve had a lot of great memories at Arsenal – probably too many to mention. Winning the Women’s Super League title and the two cups last season are probably my highlights.”
Seattle Reign manager Laura Harvey, speaking on Reign’s twitter page, added: “We sat down at the end of the season and made a list of players to pursue in the off season, Kim was number one on that list. Kim is world-class. Her talent and proven experience will be a huge asset for our team in the coming seasons.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
