WK League News

Korea international Kim Shinji has joined Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) side Rangers on a season-long loan from AS Roma, the club announced on Friday.

21-year-old midfielder Kim made the move to Italy earlier this year after a successful youth career at Sangdae Elementary School, Pohang Hangdo Middle School, Pohang Girls’ Electronic High School, and Uiduk University. She played for Korea as a youth, scoring three goals in five outings for the U17 team before appearing as part of the U20 squad that finished in third at the 2024 U20 Women’s Asian Cup and progressed to the Round of 16 at the U20 Women’s World Cup in the same year.

Kim received her first senior call-up late last year under (then newly appointed) manager Shin Sangwoo, and has since become a regular fixture of Shin’s team, clocking up ten international appearances to date. Alongside long-time teammates and friends Jeon Yukyeong and Park Soojeong, Kim is widely considered to be part of a promising new generation of women’s football in Korea, as the so-called golden generation start to hang up their boots.

Kim becomes Rangers’ first signing under new manager Leanne Crichton. The club finished third in the 2024-25 SWPL, the first division of women’s football in Scotland, coming agonisingly close to claiming the title as they finished only two points off both Glasgow City and Hibernian, champions and runners-up respectively. Rangers did bring home both the Scottish Woman’s Cup and the SWPL Cup for the second season in a row, but with Crichton at the helm the team have their eyes on the league title this season.

Upon joining the club, Kim Shinji thanked her new colleagues for welcoming her to the club and expressed her commitment to “winning every single match with the goal of lifting trophies”. The club certainly seems excited to welcome Kim to the fold, announcing her signing with a series of social media posts including photos of her looking happy and relaxed in training with her new colleagues ahead of their season opener against Hearts this Sunday. The match will be played at the iconic Ibrox stadium — Rangers have announced that as of this season, all women’s home games will be played at Ibrox unless there is a direct clash with the men’s team.

The club has been praised for its commitment to its women’s team, and fans have high hopes for this season, with a new manager, new (to them) home stadium, and now their first ever Korean player. Manager Leanne Crichton said that bringing Kim into the squad “highlights the calibre of player we are targeting”, while Managing Director Donald Gillies commented that “her arrival underlines our commitment to bringing top international talent to the club”.

Expectations are clearly high for Kim at Rangers and she will be looking to prove herself on this new stage. It’s a great opportunity for the youngster — she will be getting valuable experience at a top club in a relatively well-developed, professional league early in her career. Besides, it’s no bad thing for the visibility of women’s football in Korea — her move to AS Roma already caught the attention of many, and Rangers is yet another well-known and historic football brand held in high regard by many in Korea. Her experience at the club will also feed into her performance for the national team as manager Shin Sangwoo looks ahead to next year’s Asian Cup.

Kim’s move to Scotland comes just a few weeks after she was joined in Italy by close friend Park Soojeong, who recently signed for AC Milan. Alongside others including Jeon Yukyeong and Jeong Dabin, they represent Korean women’s football’s new generation in Europe, ensuring a continuous Korean presence in some of the world’s top women’s leagues as some senior colleagues return to the WK League, now reaching the next stage in their own careers.