CLIFTONVILLE Football Club have offered heartfelt thanks and best wishes to a local young woman who headed up their matchday coverage on social media as she moves abroad for a year.

Cavehill native Lauren McCann (21) is stepping down from her role as principal admin of the club's @RedsByTheMinute page on Twitter.

For the last four-and-a-half years, Lauren has provided a valuable resource for Reds fans with her detailed matchday updates ensuring that supporters the world over were kept fully informed of all developments in men’s and ladies' fixtures both home and away.

Lauren is moving to the western Spanish city of Cáceres to study for the upcoming academic year at University of Extremadura as part of the Erasmus programme.

Lauren is studying English and Spanish and will also study Hispanic Philosophy for the year over in Spain.

Lauren has also worked with the North Belfast News, Andersonstown News and South Belfast News on our sports coverage over the past six months.

"After five years it’s time to temporarily step away from my role as @RedsByTheMinute
 due to the fact that I’m moving to Spain for my year abroad," she said.

"It’s been a privilege to hold this role for so long and I want to thank everyone at the club and all those in the press box for all their help through the years.

"It’s a role which has opened so many doors in terms of helping me progress towards my ultimate goal of becoming a sports journalist.

"There have been plenty of ups and downs on the pitch during that time, but so many incredible memories, particularly last season, with the League Cup win, and a first European trip to Slovakia earlier this summer.

"I’ve also been fortunate enough to cover the ladies’ games during that time and I’m hoping both the men’s and women’s teams can have great campaigns yet again

"I’ll certainly be keeping up from afar, and I’m already counting down the days to Boxing Day to get to see the Reds in action again. So for now it’s not a goodbye but simply an hasta luego!"

In a statement, Cliftonville FC said: "Lauren's efforts were particularly significant when Covid-19 restrictions forced Cliftonville to play behind closed doors for the majority of the 2020/21 season.

"She departs with the gratitude of not just the club but also the Red Army and while she has not ruled out a return to our social media set-up in the future, we wish her every success for the academic year ahead.

"Thanks to the superb response to our request for @RedsByTheMinute volunteers over the summer, we are pleased to advise supporters that the service will continue as a new team prepare to assume the reins in the coming weeks."