FORMER Aberdeen and Scotland striker Scott Booth was named as Glasgow City’s new manager yesterday and says he faces a huge challenge in maintaining the domestic domination and European ambitions of Scotland’s leading women’s team.
The 43-year-old is a surprise replacement for Eddie Wolecki Black, who left the club at the start of the month.
Booth’s admits Wolecki Black is a hard act to follow but his appointment as head coach immediately lifted the Scottish champions’ profile. It was reported in Germany and the Netherlands, where he played for Borussia Dortmund, FC Utrecht and Vitesse on loan, and FC Twente.
Booth, who scored six goals in 22 Scotland appearances, now has to try to emulate the achievements of the most successful head coach in Scottish football.
Under Wolecki Black, who took up the reins on a permanent basis in 2007 following an earlier spell as manager of Montrose, City won eight successive SWPL titles, five Scottish Cups and six League Cups. The most recent of these was against Hibs in June, and was the 12th domestic trophy in succession garnered by the all-conquering Glasgow club.
City also qualified regularly for the knock-out stages of the women’s Champions League under Wolecki Black. They reached the quarter-finals earlier this year despite arguably having a weaker side than in previous seasons.
What is clear is that Booth, who worked under Mark Wotte with men’s age group teams at the Scottish FA and was then sacked as Stenhousemuir manager after less than a year in the job, will have to hit the ground running. For the first time in recent seasons, City have a fight on their hands in the league against an ambitious young Hibs side.
The new man will face his first test at home to Celtic at the Excelsior Stadium on Sunday. It’s the first SWPL match since the short summer break, and the champions only lead Hibs by goal difference after 11 games.
“The major challenge is to remain successful,” Booth said. “This season it’s tight at the top with Hibernian. There has to be a lot of respect for the previous coaching team and, of course, the players, who are the most important part of the club.
“I feel comfortable we have the right players to go on and win the league and bring more success for the club. In Europe my objective is to try to go one better [than the quarter-finals], but at the same time we know it’s a massive ask.”
Club manager Laura Montgomery said she and co-owner Carol Ann Stewart were staggered by the quality of the candidates. At least one is believed to have been a former Scottish Premiership manager and there was interest from coaches around the world.
With City insisting that applicants had the Uefa Pro-Licence, or failing that the A Licence with a strong track record, it is understood that just two of the 50-odd serious candidates were women. Neither of them was Shelley Kerr, who is head coach at Lowland League side Stirling University. Booth believes he will have a better chance of succeeding with players who train four nights a week than he did at Stenhousemuir, where he could only try to improve them on two. Nor was he concerned some might see his new role as a backward step.
“To be honest, I don’t care about the reaction,” he said. “I’ve already spoken to a couple of people in the men’s game about it, and they were incredibly positive. That’s previous coaches of mine from when I played, and ones who are in the game at the moment, both here and abroad.
“In Europe the women’s game is massive and we know what it’s like in the States. For me there is no negativity whatsoever. Maybe one or two people will think that, but that’s up to them.
“I’m extremely positive and I’m excited about a big, big job. I’ve been around the women’s game quite a lot, because when I worked with the national teams the women’s team was a priority.
“I know the standard, and for me when the opportunity came up I jumped at it.”
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