As Celtic Women pile the pressure on Glasgow City in the title race this season, the club have announced that the final league match of the campaign will take place at Celtic Park.
Season ticket holders and under-16s are able to claim free tickets for the encounter on Sunday, 21 May thanks to the support of kit manufacturers Adidas, and it is hoped that a record attendance could be roaring the team on to a final-day success.
Fran Alonso’s side can still win the title, if we overcome Hearts and things go our way in the other fixture over at Ibrox between Rangers and Glasgow City.
The recent scenes at Celtic Park during the 3-1 defeat of Glasgow City were thanks to ‘The Celtic End’, a campaign instigated by North Curve Celtic, Celtic Bhoys and the Green Brigade, which resulted in a new Scottish club attendance record being set as an incredible 9,553 fans got behind Fran’s team. It was quite a spectacle, and one that seemed a million miles from the humble beginnings of the women’s team.
Things were slightly different back on 12 August 2007 at Barrowfield, as Celtic Women took to the field against Hamilton Academical in-front of around 200 fans in their first competitive match.
The Hoops dominated the first-half and eventually took the lead after 35 minutes through Hayley Cunningham. The goal – Celtic’s first ever competitive strike – was no more than the side deserved after enjoying most of the possession in the opening half hour. Celtic continued their form until half-time and made their way into the break full of confidence.
Celtic started the second-half well but failed to maintain the high-tempo passing of the first 45. They began to concede a number of dangerous fouls around the penalty area, and were eventually punished when Hamilton forward Karen Penglase struck a well-hit left-footed free-kick into the net to level the scoring. Unfortunately, two minutes later, Hamilton took the lead when Penglase broke through on goal and had a shot saved which resulted in Kirsty McCormack hitting home the rebound.
Celtic piled on the pressure for the remainder of the half, but could not find the equaliser they craved, and in what was meant to be a much-celebrated match, Celtic ended up on the wrong side of a defeat.
The Celtic manager at that time was John Holt, who was best-known as a member of Dundee United’s league-winning side of 1982/83. Holt also played in the following season’s European Cup semi-final against Roma and the 1987 UEFA Cup final.
Speaking to the Celtic View after managing Celtic Women’s first competitive game, Holt said:
“We started well and were the better team in the first-half. We knocked the ball about comfortably at the back and managed to get the full-backs on the ball a lot. From there we created chances down the wide areas and could have scored three or four in the first-half. We have a very young side and possibly showed inexperience against a more streetwise Hamilton side. We looked to do the right things on the ball but lacked quality in the final third.”
Head Coach, Brian Delaney, had a lot of praise for the supporters at Barrowfield that day, stating:
“Everyone would like to thank the tremendous support who braved the weather to come down and cheer us on today. We hope that we can sustain that kind of support throughout the season.”
Celtic went on to reach the final of the Scottish Women’s Cup and finish third in the league in their maiden campaign. A great feat for an inaugural season.
Fast forward to the present day and Celtic Women have two League Cups and a Scottish Cup in their trophy room. This season sees them pushing for their first league title.
This Sunday, with The Celtic End backing them to the hilt, Fran Alonso’s side could achieve their greatest feat in 16 years. Why not get along and cheer on the Ghirls?
BOBBY DUNCAN
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