Lewes snap up Northern Ireland, Malta and England U19 internationals

Northern Ireland midfielder Caragh Hamilton, Malta forward Maria Farrugia, and Ipswich’s ex-England U19 winger Anna Grey have joined Scott Booth’s squad,

All boost Booth’s options for the 2023-24 Women’s Championship campaign.

Hamilton, 26, joins from Glentoran of the Women’s Premiership, and is the Rooks’ first signing of the summer.

She has made 30-plus appearances for Northern Ireland, scoring five goals, and was the youngest player to play for the national team at 15 years and 121 days.

Caragh told the Lewes website: “It’s really exciting! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, to move to a professional environment.

“I think now is a good time in my career, at 26, I’ve been playing for Northern Ireland for the last 10 years, I think I’ll bring a lot of maturity.

“I think I’m an exciting player, someone who wants to go forward a lot, dynamic, energetic, works really hard, those are the key attributes I want to see brought out in my game here.”

Maltese star Farrugia, 22, last season played for Durham, making 20 appearances.

She came to England as a 16-year-old and joined Sunderland on a two-year scholarship.

She stayed there until the 2021-22 season then made the move to Durham the following summer.

As an international, she has made more than 30 appearances for Malta, scoring four times.

Winger Grey has agreed to sign for Lewes upon the expiry of her contract with Ipswich Town.

She scored 27 goals in 72 appearances for the Tractor Girls.

Grey started out for her local side, Bishop’s Stortford, before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in the 2017-18 season.

One year on she joined the WSL Academy set-up at Ipswich and soon made her senior debut.

She cemented her place in the first team and has represented England at U18 and U19 level.

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