‘Superstar’ herald Nottingham Forest Women as Howe executes her first strike for the women in Garibaldi Red in the historic City Ground

Casey Howe

Casey Howe Credit: Conor Ryan (ETPhotos)

The sock colour may have changed from white to crimson red but the springs remain well and truly planted beneath Casey Howe’s boots as the former Athlone Town striker solidified her starting place amongst the Trentside tacticians.

Hailed as a “menace for full backs” by Nottingham Forest senior women's manager Carly Davies, the former Glentoran goal slinger has left nothing in her holster since touching down at Long Eaton, her marauding performance in Forest’s recent 4-0 win over Hull City deemed “outstanding” by the former Villa forward. 

Howe netted her first strike for The Reds in the 19th minute against Halifax last Sunday in spectacular fashion (the day after her former club won the League of Ireland), providing the assist with a deft step over to beat her markswoman and bagging their second with a long range torpedo which kick-started a one-sided 8-0 assault that Howe spearheaded.

Despite the 2024/25 campaign being in its infancy, the Maguiresbridge native and her roving Reds will no doubt have their eyes set on the Championship, which sits one tier below the prestigious Women's Super League.

The striking acumen of The Reds front line (Forest have a stellar scoring record this campaign of 39 goals bagged since their opener on August 18th against Stoke City) makes the speed at which the 22-year-old phenom has forged her place in the starting XI all the more impressive.

Under the ownership of visionary Evangelos Marinakis, Forest Women now features 18 full-time professional players on their books with a commitment to develop a fully professional squad by 2025.

Their squad includes Jessica Hennessy who made her debut for Forest, following her recent signing from Shamrock Rovers, in the 1-0 League Cup win over Cheadle Town Stingers. 

Howe first burst onto the Women's League of Ireland scene in 2023, netting 22 strikes across all competitions in her two seasons with both Sligo Rovers and Athlone Town.

A string of stand out performances in the WLOI manoeuvred Howe firmly within Davies sights - the seven time capped Northern Ireland senior international making the no doubt difficult decision to travel across the water to follow her childhood dream of becoming a professional footballer - potentially forgoing both league and cup silverware with Ciaran Kildfuffs Lissywollen league leaders by default.

A naturally gifted playmaker, Howe is a stellar signing for The Reds and is sure to get tongues wagging as her ace of attributes continues to attract attention in the FA Women's National League North.

Blink and you’ll miss her.



About Christine Allen

Christine is from Dublin and writes match reports for Shamrock Rovers Women and The Echo, along with writing her own blog WLOI stories

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