Much-travelled Football Fern Katie Rood is on the move again — this time, signing for Scottish club Hearts.
The 29-year-old striker will move North to Edinburgh after the expiration of her contract at Southampton, the club she helped gain promotion this year to the FA Women’s Championship.
Hearts play in the Scottish Women’s Premier League and head coach Eva Olid will hope Rood will bring the same talismanic qualities that have seen her past clubs win titles.
The club has moved to semi-professional status this year and have made their first-ever full-time professional signing, bringing Emma Brownlie from Rangers.
Rood has previously won titles with Marist Whangarei, Glenfield Rovers, Northern Football and Juventus, who she helped win their first Serie A title in 2017-18.
The striker joined the Saints from Lewes FC last season and helped them win promotion, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers in a play-off final.
She first played in the United Kingdom in 2012 when she joined Lincoln Ladies in the FA WSL as a teenager, having played seven seasons at Auckland’s Glenfield Rovers.
She made her full international debut in 2017, and signed for Italian club Juventus the same year. A move to Bristol City followed and then a loan spell at Lewes which became a full move in 2019.