Twelve Cliftonville players, including Northern Ireland captain Marissa Callaghan, have signed professional contracts with the club ahead of the 2023 league season.

Registration for professional players opened on 6 February and will close at the end of April.

There will then be a mid-season registration window open during the month of July.

Northern Irish Football League chief executive Gerard Lawlor told BBC Sport in December that he believes many squads in the league this year will have a mix of professional and amateur players.

Six of the Reds who have signed professional contracts were included in the Northern Ireland squad for last summer's European Championships.

Alongside captain Callaghan, defenders Kelsie Burrows and Abbie Magee, sisters Caitlin and Kirsty McGuinness and midfielder Louise McDaniel have all put pen to paper on two-year deals which will keep them at the club until the end of the 2025 season.

Danielle Maxwell, who missed the Euro 2022 finals in England last year due to injury, as well as Toni Leigh Finnegan and Fi Morgan - who both came through the academy at Cliftonville - have also committed their long-term futures to the Reds.

Full-back Yasmin White, who has been with the north Belfast club since making the switch from Glentoran in 2020, has been rewarded for her performances last season with a professional contract.

Completing the dozen are Vicky Carleton and Hannah Doherty, who arrived at the club during the mid- season transfer window.

The expanded Women's Premiership, which will now feature 10 teams with Larne and Ballymena joining for the first time this season, will start on 19 April.