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The North Carolina Courage have announced the transfer of midfielder and captain Denise O’Sullivan to Liverpool, ending a nearly nine-year run for O’Sullivan in North Carolina. The teams did not disclose the transfer fee.
O’Sullivan is North Carolina’s all-time leader in appearances with 186 across all competitions. She helped the Courage win three NWSL Shields and two NWSL Championships, plus two Challenge Cups. O’Sullivan arrived at the Courage in 2017 and was part of North Carolina’s brief dynasty on the the field.
The Courage won three straight Shields from 2017-2019, and the NWSL Championship in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, the Courage lost just once in all competitions while winning both league trophies and the inaugural Women’s International Champions Cup, a scaled-down (invitational) precursor to the forthcoming Club World Cup.
“It’s hard to put into words what this club has truly meant to me,” O’Sullivan said in a statement. “North Carolina will always be my home, and I’m forever grateful to the club, my teammates, and the incredible fans who supported and believed in me every step of the way. I’m on to a new challenge now, but I’ll always be a part of Courage Country. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.”
O’Sullivan joins a Liverpool team fighting to stay in the Women’s Super League, England’s top flight.
Liverpool, which is coached by former Manchester City coach Gareth Taylor, is winless through its first 12 games of the season and has just 4 points. Liverpool sits last and currently in the relegation playoff spot, although West Ham has only 5 points.
O’Sullivan had been the subject of rumored potential transfers to England in recent windows. She told Liverpool’s club website that the move is important for her large family, too, who are now a short flight away.
She is an Ireland international midfielder who helped her country qualify for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2023.
O’Sullivan first arrived at the Courage in 2017 as a waiver wire pickup after the Houston Dash waived her mid-season. The Courage picked up Sullivan and she found immediate success in North Carolina.
Ahead of the 2023 season, O’Sullivan became the second captain in the North Carolina era of the franchise (which began as the Western New York Flash).
“Denise has been an integral part of this club since the beginning, and she has helped define the Courage way,” North Carolina chief soccer officer Ceri Bowley, who arrived at the club last year, said in a statement. “She’s been a leader, both on and off the field, and the standard of excellence she set for herself, her teammates, and everyone at this organization will be her legacy. She will be missed, but we understand her desire to be closer to home and wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
Prior to her move to the NWSL — originally with the Dash, for 2016 and part of 2017 — O’Sullivan played in Ireland and Scotland, where she also found success.
O’Sullivan made UEFA Women’s Champions League appearances with multiple clubs, and was part of the Glasgow City team that made the UWCL quarterfinals in the 2014-15 campaign, becoming the first Scottish team to advance that far.
Glasgow City won three straight Scottish league titles during O’Sullivan’s time there, along with multiple cup titles.
She went on loan to Australia twice during the NWSL’s offseason. She also played briefly in the Women’s Super League before, on loan to Brighton in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, a loan that allowed her to compete for Ireland during uncertain times globally.
