For every success and chinking of glasses in the women’s game, there is the cold reality of what the day-to-day experience of players in the SWPL is like.
As a report from the Fraser of Allander Institute this week shone a light on the increasing significance of women’s football economically in Scotland, there is no need to look too hard for reminders that there is ample work to be done.
Just ask Laura Holden. The former Aberdeen midfielder was left with scars that went beyond the physical after an ACL injury when she was at the Pittodrie club in August 2023.
Now at Swindon, Holden has lifted the lid on the lack of support she was offered by Aberdeen in an interview this week with the Guardian newspaper.
Current evidence would seem that the way Holden was left to navigate the complex injury and manage her return was pretty shocking.
The player has alleged that the club initially paid for a scan in the immediate aftermath of the injury that she suffered in a game against Hibs. The club then told her she would need to join an NHS waiting list for her surgery. Fearing the delay could effectively end her career, she paid for the operation herself.
Working at the time in the club shop, she shunned any suggestion of setting up a GoFundMe to help finance the surgery. “I thought I was doing the right thing by not tarring the club with the fact that they wouldn’t support one of their women’s players,” she said. The operation cost around £8,000.
Holden has said that she asked Aberdeen to stop paying her wages so that the club could pay for the surgery directly, an offer which was declined. “My salary across the 18 months that I was injured for would have just covered it, if not more…the support from the club just wasn’t there, which I was really surprised by.”
The slow recovery was largely spent on her own. Holden has alleged there were no weekly check-ins or targets from the club physio but rather a programme to follow on her own. Her mental health deteriorated.
She claims that when she was fit enough to return to training it had become apparent she would not be part of Scott Booth’s plans. She spoke to the club’s HR department and urged an investigation into how her situation had been managed but has never had an update on whether or not that was carried out and, if it was, what the outcome was.
Few would quibble with the fact that revenue is tight across every top flight club. But for the clubs who have made the decision to have a women’s team, the reality is that it cannot only be about optics. There has to be a willingness to stream resources in that direction.
AND ANOTHER THING
Good on the girls of South Morningside Primary who were so disgruntled at the disparity of trophies on offer as they won the Edinburgh Schools cup that they forced the organisers of the competition into a complete about turn.
Willie French, president of the Edinburgh Primary Schools Sports Association (EPSSA) admitted to being “quite embarrassed” when the inequality of silverware was made clear. Although the tournament has featured teams from both boys and girls since 1997, the finals of the teams had never ran on the same evening prior to this year.
“When I set up the presentation there were the three traditional trophies and then there was this sad wee diddy-looking trophy and I was quite embarrassed,” acknowledged French with admirable candour.
The South Morningside girls took the ‘wee diddy-looking trophy’ while their male counterparts got their hands on the big shiny one.
Not content to simple walk away and grumble about the fact both trophies weren’t the same, the girls got together and penned an angry note to the organisers to make clear their thoughts on the matter.
The upshot was a second round of celebrations as they got their hands on a new £1,600 trophy last week.
It will be a cup final to remember for a group of pre-teens, not just because of their triumph on the park but because of the little footnote they added off it.
There would have been a few red faces at the EPSSA but they are to be commended for rectifying the mistake – and ensuring that the optics going forward are where they should be.
AND FINALLY
It is all eyes on Petershill this afternoon as direction of travel for this season’s SWPL title race is signposted.
With Glasgow City currently sitting seven points clear of Rangers and Celtic at the summit of the table, the outcome of today’s meeting against Leanne Crichton’s side will offer an indication of just what can be expected across the next few months. A win for the hosts would take them ten points clear of the Ibrox side while a win the other way cuts the deficit to four between the teams.
The recent traditions of the league have all pointed to dramatic final day finales, a conclusion to the campaign that has invited welcome attention and focus on the women’s game.
Glasgow City were top dogs for so long that it would not seem remiss to read into this season’s current unbeaten form as a rebuke against the last two seasons in which they finished with nothing to show for their endeavours.
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