FIORENTINA, Manchester United, Liverpool, West Ham – definitely a line-up to get any football fan excited, particularly when you hear that this is about five Scottish players who have been snapped up by these top-class clubs, including a previous Hibernian manager who has been appointed assistant coach at Manchester United.
But anyone who has read this column will know what’s coming next – you won’t be aware of this because this relates to women’s football.
Lana Clelland’s transfer to Fiorentina did cause a little ripple of coverage and she was interviewed recently by the BBC. She has spent quite a few of her playing years in Italy but was surprised to learn the Italian press were comparing her to a previous football legend there, who happens also to be a Scot, Rose Reilly.
However, Rose wasn’t the only Scot who set the heather ablaze in Italy. She had a companion in crime in Edna Nellis, who was from Cumbernauld. Currently there is a campaign to get Edna recognised by the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, increasing the number of females among the 93 players inducted to a grand total of two! You can vote for Edna to be included this year at scottishfootballhalloffame.co.uk/nominations.
The coach going to Manchester United is Willie Kirk, who coached Hibs Ladies for more than four years before moving to the Scottish FA’s national performance centre for women’s football where he held the post of high performance football manager.
Willie then spent three years in charge at Bristol City in the Women’s Super League, creating a great track record of success. He has now taken up a wonderful opportunity to work with Casey Stoney as part of Manchester United’s inaugural women’s coaching team and will join the two former Hibs players, Lizzie Arnot and Kirsty Smith, at the club.
So our football export market is still strong, but it begs the question – why can’t we keep the talent in Scotland? “There is no money in Scottish football,” is the stock answer and it certainly relates to women’s football as currently there are still no women players earning anything close to a decent living from the game in Scotland.
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