Howay the lasses

Leanne Kiernan believes the time is right for a new challenge after bringing an end to her five-year spell at Liverpool, with the Republic of Ireland striker joining ambitious Championship side Newcastle United.

The Cavan native leaves Liverpool as one of the club's most prolific forwards. During her time on Merseyside, Leanne scored the second-highest number of goals in the club's history (23), but after an injury-hit final period and a loan spell at Nottingham Forest, she felt the moment had arrived to move on.

Manager Tanya Oxtoby has big plans for her, which hugely motivated the change. The 27-year-old wants her qualities to be seen and made use of: "I felt it was time for a change, and speaking to Tanya, and the game philosophy she had, and where I kind of fit in. I was really excited with the whole idea of it and I'm just looking forward to a new chapter."

Last year just after signing her extension with Liverpool, Gareth Taylor took over as new manager. From the start,there was no clear pathway in Taylor’s starting 11. Halfway through the season she left on loan for Nottingham. This time, the move is permanent. "It was time to move on." In Newcastle, her ambition is to be a main contributor to the promotion into the Women's Super League.

She added: "Speaking to Tanya, it just came across really well, the whole plan and that, and I felt like it was the right move, so I can't wait to get started." Leanne will not be short of familiar faces at the Tyneside club, linking up again with former Liverpool teammates including Gemma Evans and Irish national Aoife Mannion. "Usually going to a new club, I'd be a bit nervous. But as soon as I arrived here, it felt nearly like home straight away.

A big thing for me too is off the pitch and how the people are, and I kind of want to feel home away from home. So I think coming to Newcastle really felt like the right decision."

Leanne is determined to rediscover the goalscoring form that once saw her net 14 league goals in a season. "Let's do it. Really excited for it and hopefully, all going well, I'll show the fans what I'm made of."

A note on her fridge will be a daily reminder of what is the target: Promotion. "I like to write out my goals at the start of a season, and that's the main one. The club have all the attributes to win the league. It's now just up to us as players to put it right and get Newcastle back where they belong."

Having enjoyed plenty of memorable moments during five years at Liverpool, Leanne now hopes to write the next successful chapter of her career in black and white: "I'm just looking towards a fresh start." Naturally a player that "lives for tackles and scoring goals" in recent times it looked like the attacker had lost a bit of her springiness.

It's to be hoped that she finds her carefree style again: "I love playing football and I love showing my personality on the pitch, and hopefully the fans will enjoy it."

And on another note: Clocking more game time will give her the confidence and attitude Ireland'd Head Coach Carla Ward needs for her to become a permanent asset in the National Team again.

With a World Cup next summer, anything is possible.