Emma Follis, who previously spent 14 years at Aston Villa from the age of nine, has returned to the club from Birmingham City.
Follis told the club’s website: “Aston Villa is my childhood club, so I’m thrilled to be back. When the opportunity presented itself, I was ecstatic.
“Good words have been filtering around about the club in women’s football and Villa is going in the right direction.
“Christian Purslow has been fantastic in supporting us and that was one of the main reasons I made the switch. Hopefully we can get promoted and become a prolific team in the Super League.”
Midfielder Follis, 27, also played for Seattle Reign and Reading, before making 33 league appearances for Birmingham.
Head coach Gemma Davies said: “Emma is a player who I’ve known for a long time and she’s someone who will make a tremendous impact on our team.
“She could have stayed and played in the Super League this season but she wanted to come back and help the club she supports to achieve big things in the women’s game.”
