Waterford FC are also delighted to announce the signing of Blessing Kingsley, who becomes our fifth new signing of the window.
An exciting 24 year-old winger, she makes the move to the RSC having previous League of Ireland experience with Wexford FC, where she won the FAI Cup in 2019.
Kingsley started her career with Hanover Harps FC in Carlow at U14 & U16 level where she won the Kildare & Kilkenny League, before moving to Wexford Youths U17. After impressing at U17 level, she was called-up to the first-team where she was involved in Wexford’s Champions League campaign.
Blessing won the 2019 Women’s FAI Cup with Wexford at the Aviva Stadium, coming on as a second-half substitute in Wexford’s 3-2 win over Peamount United – a game that also saw Maeve Williams on the bench for Wexford.
The winger also has international experience, with caps for the Republic of Ireland at U16, U17 & U19 level.
2021 saw Kingsley make the move stateside where she earned a full scholarship with the University of Southern Mississippi. Here, she won the West-Division Conference in 2021 along with making the All-Freshman Team of the Year in 2021.
A brief spell in Italy was ended with an injury but she now looks forward to completing her rehab ahead of making her return to Women’s Premier Division for a second stint, this time with the Blues.
Speaking to the club on her signing, Blessing spoke of her excitement at joining the club, saying:
“I’m looking forward to being back in the league after a 4 year-long absence in the US, and a long Achilles recovery. Waterford FC are a great young team and I hope to add some experience to the squad!”
Gary Hunt is delighted to welcome Blessing to the side, mentioning:
“Since Blessing has returned home we have been in regular contact and after our initial conversations it was clear that she wanted to make playing for Waterford a possibility albeit recovering from injury at the time.
Having seen her break onto the scene as a young player with Wexford alongside the experience she has got from playing abroad it was a no-brainer for us to have someone of that calibre in our dressing room.
I am looking forward to seeing the impact she can make both on the pitch but also in the dressing room alongside a young group but we are slowly building a collective group of experienced players that can help guide this squad through this season and seasons to come.
Blessing’s challenge now will be to return fully fit from injury and force her way into the team when the time comes which I know she will enjoy that challenge. Competition in forward areas will be what makes the group stronger as with any player, they will be keen to play.”
